A Youth Congress leader was arrested from the port area on Friday for allegedly leading a group into a multiplex at Quest mall on January 12 and damaging a portion of a screen just before a show of The Accidental Prime Minister.
Rakesh Singh has been charged with vandalism, rioting, trespassing, criminal intimidation and a host of other offences, police said.
The police started trailing Singh after he returned from New Delhi and stepped out of the Calcutta airport on Friday evening.
Singh’s car was intercepted near Alipore zoo. He was asked to get off the car a few metres from his Orphangunge Road house and arrested.
The Youth Congress leader’s family members alleged the police were not carrying any arrest warrant for Singh. They also said Singh had secured an anticipatory bail in this case.
On the evening of the release of The Accidental Prime Minister on January 12, Singh and his men had allegedly barged into INOX at Quest mall and forcibly stopped the screening of the film.
The agitators, carrying Congress flags, allegedly entered a theatre around 8pm just as the screening of the film was about to start and damaged the screen, causing the show to be cancelled. The protesters also allegedly threatened the audience to leave the hall immediately.
“The film is an insult to our leaders. We will not allow the film to be screened anywhere,” Singh had said while leading the agitators who claimed to be Youth Congress supporters.
A large contingent of police had dispersed the protesters and the film was later screened on the torn screen.
Singh had been arrested in February last year for allegedly attacking a police sub-inspector in a case involving alleged vandalism at CMRI.