BJP leader Anisur Rahman, acquitted of charges of murdering a Trinamul leader in 2019 by the local court here, was arrested two hours after his release on Tuesday following a Calcutta High Court order that overturned the bail granted to him last month and the process of acquittal underway since then.

A petition challenging Rahman’s bail order by the lower court was moved by a East Midnapore resident in high court last week, alleging the state government did not follow proper legal procedure.

The prayer came up for hearing before Justice Sabyasachi Bhattacharyya of the high court on Tuesday, who observed the state administration failed to cite proper reasons while withdrawing its case against Rahman and directed the police to re-arrest Rahman.

The case acquired political colours for more reasons than one. Rahman faced charges of murdering Trinamul leader Qurban Shah on October 7, 2019. Rahman himself was was a popular Trinamul youth leader who in 2018 joined the BJP after differences with then Trinamul heavyweight Suvendu Adhikari. When Shah was killed, Rahman was arrested in November 2019. After Suvendu defected to the BJP in December 2020, chief minister Mamata Banerjee publicly said in East Midnapore that Rahman was wrongfully implicated.

Additional reporting by Anshuman Phadikar