STF, cops arrest TMC netas, kin in statewide crackdown

Kolkata: In a major statewide crackdown, police arrested several high-profile Trinamool figures and their immediate relatives on charges ranging from illegal arms possession and extortion to land grabbing.On Sunday night, the state police's Special Task Force (STF), along with Diamond Harbour district police, intercepted a speeding vehicle in the Lalbati area of South 24 Parganas. Among those inside was Arghya Mondal, son of Bishnupur Trinamool MLA Dilip Mondal, along with four others. During a search, police recovered a foreign-made pistol and four rounds of ammunition allegedly without valid documentation.Arghya and others were arrested under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Arms Act. Investigators are probing possible links to an illegal arms supply racket.Police sources said Dilip Mondal himself remains absconding in connection with a separate probe. Officers claimed the MLA fled his residence through a window moments before police arrived for questioning.Meanwhile, Daspur police in Paschim Medinipur arrested Kumaresh Bhunia, a Daspur-I Panchayat Samiti functionary and son of former three-time TMC MLA Mamata Bhunia.Kumaresh was allegedly cornered by local residents and opposition workers raising slogans of "thief" before police intervened and detained him.He has been booked under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and also faces allegations of extortion and illegal occupation of heritage property."Since 2013, Kumaresh spearheaded a reign of terror, seizing college rooms and illegally selling off part of the local zamindar property," alleged BJP neta Raju Ari.However, Mamata Bhunia defended her son, claiming he had been framed for political reasons. A Midnapore court later remanded Kumaresh to five days' police custody.In Asansol, police arrested Raju Aluwaliah, INTTUC block president and a close aide of former state minister Moloy Ghatak, on extortion charges.Aluwaliah, considered influential in the local bus and auto-rickshaw transport network, was picked up by the Asansol South police on Sunday night. Produced before the Asansol District Court on Monday, he shouted to reporters that the case was a "political conspiracy" while police sought a 10-day remand.