Malda, Aug. 14: Bakul Sheikh, a former Trinamul leader wanted in the killing of a 13-year-old boy and in seven other murder cases, was arrested in Calcutta's East Jadavpur area last night in a joint operation by a special task force of Calcutta police and Malda police.

The 44-year-old labour contractor, also wanted for alleged extortion, was the Kaliachak anchal president of Trinamul but was expelled from the party last year for his criminal activities.

Of the eight murder cases against Bakul, two are regarding the killing of members of his rival Zakir Sheikh's gang.

In another case, a 13-year-old who was found beaten to death in Kaliachak was the son of one of the Zakir gang members. In all three cases, Bakul was named

the prime accused by the police.

Zakir, like Bakul, is a labour contractor and was also a member of Trinamul. He too was expelled from the party in 2015.

The murders, according to Trinamul sources in Kaliachak, were the fallout of Bakul's bid to control a gram panchayat headed by his sister-in-law Farhana Bibi. Some of Zakir's loyalists in the gram panchayat had attempted to bring a no-trust motion against Farhana after which the three murders happened.

Bakul's arrest came over a month after Malda police formed a team to crack down on criminal activities in the Kaliachak area of the district where Bakul and Zakir were in a protracted battle for turf control.

Bakul was produced in an Alipore court this morning and handed over to Malda police on a two-day transit remand.

Malda police superintendent Arnab Ghosh told a news conference today that there are 28 cases against Bakul.

"A team of the STF and a special team from the district police raided a house in Calcutta's East Jadavpur and arrested Bakul. He is the most wanted criminal in Malda district. There are eight arrest warrants against him and he is an accused in 20 other cases. He faces eight murder cases and has been accused of abduction, rioting, blocking a highway and possession of illegal arms," Ghosh said.

"Bakul fled Kaliachak a month ago and we came to know that he was in Uttarakhand. Recently, we found that the location of his cellphone was in East Jadavpur. Most of the time, Bakul's cellphone was in the Sonali Park area of Panchashayar in East Jadavpur. Malda police immediately informed the STF and gave Bakul's photograph," said a source in Calcutta police.

The police arrested Bakul from in front of a guesthouse last night.

 

CHARGES

Some of the cases in which Bakul Sheikh is an accused 

 

• Sajir Monin, 13, the son of a member of the rival Zakir Sheikh gang, was beaten to death on June 27. Bakul booked for murder under Section 302 of the IPC 
• James Sheikh, 42, a member of the Zakir gang, was shot dead on July 2*
• Enjul Sheikh, 34, a member of the Zakir gang, was shot dead on July 30*

*In the last two cases, Bakul has been booked under Section 302 of the IPC and Sections 25 and Section 27 of the Arms Act