Three Trinamool Congress leaders were arrested in the past 24 hours in South Dinajpur and Alipurduar districts for their alleged involvement in illegal activities, corruption and defalcation of government funds.

In South Dinajpur, police arrested Nityashish Majumdar, popularly known as Monua, who is a member of the Bansihari panchayat samiti and known to be a close associate of former minister Biplab Mitra, on Wednesday night.

He was allegedly involved in illegal sand mining from the Tangon river in the Allahabad panchayat of the Bansihari block. The police acted on specific complaints, conducted a raid and intercepted him. He is a resident of Sihal village in the block.

On Thursday, a court in Gangarampur remanded Majumdar in judicial custody for 14 days.

A Trinamool leader, however, said Majumdar had been falsely implicated in the case.

Manas Roy, a former vice-president of Trinamool’s youth wing in Alipurduar district, was arrested on Wednesday night for misappropriating government funds meant for various welfare schemes.

He is also the husband of Bubun Roy, who served as the head of Majherdabri panchayat in Alipurduar 2 block from 2018 to 2023.

Police sources said the arrest followed a resident’s complaint of financial irregularities and misuse of government funds.

The complainant claimed that substantial amounts allocated for the welfare schemes, such as the distribution of saplings, poultry farming projects, and the 100-day work scheme, were either misused or not properly distributed among beneficiaries.

The residents said that during Bubun’s tenure as the head of the rural body, Manas had handled most of the developmental and administrative tasks on her behalf.

“In the complaint, it has been mentioned that the total amount that has been misappropriated could be around six to seven crore rupees,” said a source.

In another case, Mantu Barman, a Trinamool member of Vivekananda 2 panchayat in Alipurduar 1 block, was arrested on Thursday morning for extorting money from people.

Mantu, sources said, had collected money illegally from an elderly man for facilitating the installation of a mobile tower on a plot owned by the person.

Earlier, the police had arrested two others in the same case, said sources.