Gaighata: Former Trinamul minister Manjul Krishna Thakur's son Shantanu Thakur was arrested in Thakurnagar, North 24-Parganas, on Friday on the charge of assaulting and stopping police from arresting suspects in a temple theft.

Shantanu has denied the charge, saying he had no reason to stop the police from arresting anyone. He said he "just wanted to know" why the cops were there.

Shantanu's brother Subrata was a BJP candidate in the 2015 bypolls. His father was a minister in the Mamata Banerjee government in 2015.

On March 19, a gold chain went missing from the Harimandir of Thakurbari in Thakurnagar, an officer of Gaighata police station said.

Thakurbari, some 67km from Calcutta, is the headquarters of an estimated seven million-strong Matua sect in Bongaon.

The Bongaon Lok Sabha seat comprises more than 50 per cent of Matuas, a religious group.

Manjul Krishna Thakur is one of the mahasabhadipatis of Matua Maha Sanga.

Immediately after the theft came to light, Dhyanesh Narayan Guha, convener of the Thakubari's celebration committee, lodged a complaint with Gaighata police station.

Cops checked footage of CCTV cameras installed around the temple and started inquiring about visitors to the temple.

On March 21, the police arrested Amit Narayan Guha in connection with the theft.

"After interrogating Guha, we got leads about two men who could be involved in the theft," an officer said.

On Friday, a team led by Ramkrishna Bhuria from Gaighata police station reached Thakurbari in search of the two.

Shantanu Thakur and Tapan Kiran Majumder apparently stopped cops from entering and arresting the two who were inside Thakurbari.

A scuffle broke out between the cops and Shantanu and Tapan.

The officer-in-charge of the police station reached in a while and picked up Shantanu and Tapan.

"I am not aware of any theft. When the police came I just wanted to know why they were there. I didn't stop any police officer from performing his duty," Shantanu said.