Ashoknagar municipality chairman and Trinamool Congress leader Prabodh Sarkar was arrested on charges of attempting to destroy evidence linked to suspected financial irregularities, recruitment scams and alleged misuse of government welfare schemes.
A dramatic sequence of events unfolded in Ashoknagar, North 24-Parganas, on Friday when a few neighbours noticed thick plumes of smoke rising from Sarkar’s home and initially feared that a fire had broken out.
The neighbours rushed to the house and repeatedly called out the municipal chairman. However, according to residents, Sarkar did not respond immediately and allegedly refused to open the gate, triggering suspicion.
The residents contacted the police. BJP leaders and workers also reached the spot. By the time police arrived, tension had escalated in the area.
According to police and local sources, officers discovered a heap of partially burnt documents in the garden behind Sarkar’s residence. The investigators suspect that the papers included important municipal records and documents related to government schemes.
Sarkar purportedly claimed that he was merely cleaning the garden and burning dry leaves, a defence that was immediately challenged by BJP leaders present at the scene.
Rinki Sur, president of BJP Ashoknagar mandal 4, claimed that the local people became suspicious after detecting the smell of burning paper. “I got the smell of burning papers coming from our municipal chairman’s house and rushed there to help. I repeatedly called Prabodh Kaku, but he did not respond or come out to open the gate. His behaviour appeared highly suspicious,” said Sur.
“When he later claimed that only dry leaves were being burnt, we became more suspicious. We saw a heap of documents on fire and immediately tried to extinguish it with water. Some documents were recovered and later handed over to the police. Those included land sale papers, Aadhaar-related documents, Awas Yojana records and papers allegedly linked to recruitment irregularities,” she added.
The police subsequently recovered several half-burnt documents and arrested Sarkar late at night under various provisions related to destruction of evidence and alleged illegal destruction of official records. He was taken to the Ashoknagar police station for questioning.
The arrest has sent shockwaves across North 24-Parganas district and added a dramatic new dimension to the series of corruption-related investigations currently underway at several municipalities in Bengal. Allegations of recruitment irregularities, financial misappropriation and manipulation of beneficiary lists under government housing schemes had increasingly become major flashpoints between the Trinamool Congress and the BJP ahead of the Assembly elections.
BJP North 24-Parganas district vice-president Chittaranjan Biswas launched a scathing attack on Sarkar.
“For the last few days, we had been hearing that important municipal documents were being shifted to his residence. When neighbours noticed smoke and suspected a fire, the truth gradually came out. The chairman was allegedly burning vital documents to destroy evidence connected with multiple corruption cases. The police intervention prevented the destruction of those records,” Biswas alleged.
A court on Saturday remanded Sarkar in police custody for five days.
Naihati arrest
Police conducted a late-night raid at Sodepur in North 24-Parganas and arrested Trinamool youth leader Abhijit Chatterjee, who is the son of Naihati municipality chairman Ashok Chatterjee.
Police sources said multiple criminal cases, including allegations of extortion, assault and molestation, were pending against him.
Chatterjee was produced in the Barrackpore court on Saturday amid heavy security. Tension flared outside the court premises when an angry crowd, including several women, allegedly manhandled him while he was being escorted by police personnel.
He was sent to police custody for four days.