A former Trinamool Congress councillor of Durgapur Municipal Corporation and his son were arrested on Wednesday for allegedly purchasing three costly mobile phones on credit last year but not paying the price even after repeated pleas from the shopowner.

TMC leader Manas Roy and his son Abhraneel Roy were arrested based on a police complaint lodged on Tuesday by the shopowner, Sanjay Kumar Modi.

“Manas purchased three mobile phones worth of ₹1.92-lakh last year. He told me he would transfer the amount to my bank account soon as he did not have sufficient bank balance then. He was a councillor and ruling party leader and so accepted his request. Later, he sent me a cheque for the amount but it bounced in the absence of adequate bank balance,” said Modi.

The trader also alleged that he had been threatened by Manas who had taken the names of Burdwan-Durgapur TMC MP Kirti Azad and rural development minister Pradip Majumder, who is also an MLA from Durgapur (East). “He threatened to close down the shop.”

“In between, he (Manas) tried to sell the mobile phones to another shop. I knew about it and again sought money but he repeated the threats. I had no option but to lodge a police complaint against him,” added Modi.

Abhishek Gupta, deputy commissioner of police, Durgapur, (east division), said: “We have arrested two persons based on a specific complaint against them. We are not aware of their political identity.”

Sources said several complaints of cheating, intimidation and duping people by promising them jobs had been raised against Manas when he had been the councillor of ward 32 between 2017 and 2022. But none dared to lodge complaints against him, they said.

Asked by journalists if the allegations were true.

Trinamool leader in Durgapur Uttam Mukherjee said the party did not support or allow such activities.