A secretary of the BJP’s Basirhat organising district unit was arrested on Sunday for allegedly helping Bangladeshis infiltrate into India and harbouring them.

Rajendra Saha, alias Soumya, 27, a resident of Gopalnagar near Haroa, was picked up from Nahata by police on Saturday night.

Saha was charged under relevant sections of the Foreigners’ Act, 1946, and produced in a court in Bongaon. He was remanded in police custody for three days.

The arrest has reportedly caused embarrassment to the local BJP which staged a protest led by party secretary Raju Banerjee in Basirhat on Sunday morning and gheraoed the office of the superintendent of police in the town to demand Saha’s release.

Police sources said Saha had been operating a racket that helped Bangladeshi citizens sneak into India and provided them with shelter.

“Saha for long has used his political clout to function as a middleman to help Bangladeshi citizens infiltrate into our country and he would provide them with shelter,” said an investigating officer. “He used to operate from several areas in the Bongaon subdivision and was arrested by Gopalnagar police on the basis of a tip-off.”

The police said Saha’s name had cropped up during interrogation of an alleged Bangladeshi infiltrator last week.

BJP leader Raju Banerjee claimed that Saha had been implicated for raising his voice over a recent gang-rape in which a section of Trinamul leaders had allegedly been involved.

Banerjee also claimed that Saha had recently informed the police about suspected death threats he had received from Bangladesh. “How can a person who has lodged a police complaint regarding a similar issue be arrested for it?” “Rather, it is Trinamul leaders who are involved with cross-border trafficking.”

Trinamul leader and former MLA Gopal Seth said the BJP was “misleading” people about its own activities.

“It is quite unfortunate to learn BJP leaders are not only providing support to cattle smugglers and human traffickers but also helping Bangladeshis infiltrate,” he said.