The importance of being Garga Chatterjee |
Within a week of taking over West Bengal’s administration, the new BJP government has unleashed a spate of high-profile arrests. On 11 May, the Enforcement Directorate (ED), powered by the state’s 'double-engine sarkar', arrested former West Bengal minister and Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Sujit Bose.
Bose was arrested for his alleged involvement in a municipal recruitment scam where he, as vice-chairman of South Dum Dum Municipality, recommended nearly 150 candidates for various positions in exchange for financial benefits. The ED has alleged that "proceeds of crime" were laundered through Bose’s business ventures, including a restaurant and a dhaba, and is investigating charges of money laundering under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). A four-time MLA, Bose recently lost his Bidhannagar Assembly seat to the BJP's Sharadwat Mukherjee.
The second high-profile arrest was that of Garga Chatterjee on 12 May by Kolkata Police's cyber cell. Chatterjee is the founder of the ethno-linguistic organisation Bangla Pokkho, and authorities alleged he made provocative social media posts questioning the integrity of electronic voting machines (EVMs) and the counting process, leading to complaints by the district election officer of Kolkata North and the Election Commission of India. The police arrested him after he reportedly failed to appear in response to two previous summons.
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Social media went berserk over the arrest. The prevailing narrative was that Chatterjee had been arrested with 20 rounds of ammunition, something Kolkata Police commissioner Ajay Nand later denied and clarified. According to Nand, no ammunition was........