West Bengal Police on Sunday arrested former Trinamool Congress MLA Khokan Das from Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Nagar (formerly Mughal Sarai) in Uttar Pradesh. Das, who represented the Bardhaman Dakshin constituency, was taken into custody in connection with charges of threats, extortion, and abetment of political violence when his party was in power.
According to police sources, the former heavyweight TMC leader was detained in the morning following inputs regarding the pending case. He is being produced before a local court in Uttar Pradesh for transit remand to facilitate his transfer to West Bengal for further interrogation and legal proceedings.
After he became MLA of Burdwan South in 2021, several cases of allegations of post-poll violence were made against him. It is alleged that police didn’t take any action against Das at that time. Apart from political violence, Khokan Das is also accused of extortion.
After the defeat in the assembly elections, Khokan Das reportedly started calling himself a ‘BJP leader’. An audio of his conversion with a person had gone viral after the election results, in which he was heard saying, “You are making a fuss about all this after the Trinamool Congress lost! Remember, I am the BJP leader now.”
After that, a complaint was lodged against him with the police, and he fled the area before police could take any action. A team of Burdwan district police finally arrested him from Deendayal Upadhyay Marg in Mughalsarai in Uttar Pradesh on Sunday.
This arrest forms part of a widespread police crackdown on several former TMC leaders across the state following the change in government. Khokan Das, who has faced multiple allegations in the past including extortion and land-related irregularities, was trying to evade scrutiny when apprehended from the neighbouring state.
The development has intensified political heat in Purba Bardhaman district, where TMC leaders are already under pressure due to simultaneous actions against other party functionaries.
In related incidents on the same day, police also arrested former Purbasthali North MLA Tapan Chatterjee after recovering large quantities of government relief tarpaulins and footballs from his residence. Additionally, a senior TMC leader from Katwa was taken into custody in a separate financial irregularities case.
