Syndicate murder accused arrested

KOLKATA: Battered by the fallout of the Saradha scam, the Trinamool leadership is no longer willing to shoulder the burden of syndicate violence and has given the go-ahead to police to spare no one. This carte blanche has led to two syndicate-related cases being cracked in as many days, making you wonder why police couldn’t do this earlier. The detective department on Tuesday nabbed Munna Pandey from Bhowanipore for the murder of rival Manoj Shaw in Kasba in May this year. Munna was on the most-wanted list but was nabbed from the heart of the city, that too only a day after the arrest of Shankar Chakraborty for a syndicate-related clash in Beliaghata Rashmoni Bazar.These come weeks after the arrest of Uttam Ghosh, a construction material supplier who is accused of using an illegal weapon to fire at stall owner Satyendra Rai for refusing to vacate his roadside shop in Kankurgachhi to Ghosh and his men.Shaw’s murder was the direct fallout of syndicate rivalry — when a “small player” like Shaw challenged the domain of Pandey. Pandey, who hit the headlines in 2005 by allegedly murdering two promoters, plunged into the syndicate business after the high court granted him bail. The police had earlier arrested Sheikh Qutubbudin aka Bhoglu after Shaw mentioned him and seven others in his dying declaration. The repeated syndicate-related violence cases were sparking outrage against the cops. In a meeting at the KMC headquarters a few days ago which was attended by police commissioner Surajit Kar Purkayastha, councillors and KMC officials openly elaborated how these syndicates were controlling illegal construction in the added areas and southeast Kolkata with active support from a section of the police. All the syndicate goons claimed to be Trinamool members, the councillors alleged. These syndicates first appeared in New Town when rice fields were being turned into the satellite township. From there, they shifted to controlling illegal construction across Karaya, Tiljala and Topsia. KMC sources say the maximum complaints now come from Karaya.