Kolkata: Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader, considered to be a a close aide of MP and the party’s national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee was arrested near the Indo-Nepal border on Monday by a Special Task Force (STF) of the West Bengal Police.
Khan, who was the TMC candidate from Falta in South 24-Parganas in the recently concluded Assembly elections in the state, has seven FIRs registered against him, including one for allegedly tampering with Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs). He is also accused of intimidating voters.
His actions led to the Election Commission of India (ECI) ordering re-polling in the Falta Assembly constituency that falls within the Diamond Harbour Lok Sabha constituency, from which Abhishek Banerjee is the MP.
Khan, however, pulled out of the contest barely a couple of days before the re-polls and the BJP candidate sailed through with a huge margin.
The TMC strongman, who enjoyed Y-class security under the previous government, made the headlines recently when Ajay Pal Sharma, an IPS officer from Uttar Pradesh – appointed as a police observer in West Bengal by the ECI – went in search of him ahead of the elections.
This was after allegations were made against Khan and his accomplices of intimidating voters. Sharma reached his home in Falta and on not finding him there asked his relatives to warn him against such activities. “Don’t force me to take action that you will regret. It will be of no use of you come crying to me after that,” the police officer said.
When the video clip went viral, people began referring to Sharma as “Singham”, a fictitious maverick police officer from a Bollywood film by that same name.
On coming to know of this, Khan boasted that if Sharma is Singham, he is “Pushpa”, another fictional character – a sandalwood smuggler – portrayed in the south Indian film “Pushpa: The Rise”.
Abhishek Banerjee also made strong remarks against Sharma and warned of action after the elections. All of this came to naught after the TMC’s poor showing in the polls.
Khan seemed to have lost his stomach for politics after re-polling was ordered in his constituency. Realising that he would lose, he opted out of the race and then moved court, seeking anticipatory bail, before going into hiding.
The STF, however, followed his trail and succeeded in arresting him before he could flee the country.
