TMC Leader Sabyasachi Dutta arrested for extortion; People throw eggs, cow dung at him

Sabyasachi Dutta was arrested in an extortion and criminal intimidation case in West Bengal and remanded to eight days of police custody. As he was taken to and from court, some people protested by throwing eggs, tomatoes and cow dung at him

Kolkata: Trinamool Congress leader Sabyasachi Dutta was arrested early on Tuesday from West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas district on charges of extortion and criminal intimidation, and was remanded to police custody for eight days.

The former Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation (BMC) mayor was nabbed from his residence at Raigachi based on a businessman’s complaint that Dutta had demanded more than Rs 1 crore from him in 2018, a police officer said.

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Even though Dutta denied the charges against him and said he was “ready to be hanged if they can prove I took even one rupee”, people shouted “thief” at him and threw eggs, tomatoes and cow dung when he was being taken to court, as well as when he was leaving.

The Bidhannagar subdivisional court remanded Dutta to police custody for eight days. Dutta had unsuccessfully contested the recent Assembly polls from the Barasat seat on a TMC ticket. He had joined the BJP in 2019 and returned to the Mamata Banerjee-led party a couple of years later.

His arrest came after former Bidhannagar MLA and a minister in the TMC government, Sujit Bose, was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in a civic body job scam case.

Reacting to Dutta’s arrest, state minister and Bidhannagar MLA Sharadwat Mukherjee said, “The pillars of corruption and arrogance are being arrested one by one.” Appreciating the Bidhannagar Police’s prompt action in the matter, he said “extortionists” of the TMC era were being apprehended on a war footing.