TMC leader arrested for inciting violence ahead of 2023 panchayat polls

A police officer said that former Trinamool Congress (TMC) lawmaker Arabul Islam was being produced before a district court

Former Trinamool Congress (TMC) lawmaker Arabul Islam was on Friday arrested for allegedly inciting violence ahead of the July 2023 panchayat elections. A police officer said Islam, who is also a suspect in an Indian Secular Front (ISF) worker’s murder on the last day for nominations for the elections, was being produced before a district court.

The TMC leader was picked up late on Thursday. (Getty Images)

Islam’s arrest triggered fresh clashes between TMC and ISF workers in Bhangar on Friday. Samsur Rehman, an ISF leader, alleged the TMC workers assaulted his men when they were putting up posters. TMC leader Amirul Islam said ISF workers attacked them without provocation.

Bhangar, which is located around 35 km from the West Bengal capital, was last year under the jurisdiction of the Kolkata Police due to intermittent clashes between TMC and ISF workers.

Islam’s rival and ISF leader Nawsad Siddique, the only Muslim opposition lawmaker in the state assembly, wrested the Bhangar from the TMC in the 2021 polls. TMC lost the election by 26,000 votes three months after ISF was formed.

In November, Siddique announced he would contest the Diamond Harbour Lok Sabha seat in South 24 Parganas and defeat two-time winner Abhishek Banerjee of the TMC.

Siddique was arrested in January 2023 on the attempt to murder charges after his supporters clashed with police when they were stopped from holding a rally to celebrate the party’s foundation day. He was granted bail after spending 39 days in custody.