Following the arrest of Debasish Pramanik, Siliguri Metropolitan Police have also arrested Goutam Goswami, a Trinamul Congress leader, for his involvement in a land grabbing case.
Goswami, who held positions in both the Siliguri Jalpaiguri Development Authority and the Dabgram Fulbari Block Trinamul Congress Committee, was taken into custody by the police in Delhi today.
It should be noted that chief minister Mamata Banerjee, had ordered the arrest of Pramanik, who previously served as president of the Dabgram Fulbari Block TMC Committee and was a former member of Jalpaiguri zilla parishad.
Yesterday, Pramanik made an appearance in the court and was once again put into police custody. The TMC leadership in Jalpaiguri district has rusticated Mr Pramanik from the party, following his arrest by the police.
As per reports, Uttam Roy, a BJP leader was also taken into custody by the police in relation to the illegal acquisition and sale of government land in Gajoldoba. Today, Roy was produced before the Jalpaiguri District Court.
The land and land reforms department of Rajganj Block has recently uncovered and taken back 1.33-acre of land in Gajoldoba, Jalpaiguri. This land, which was previously under the control of Trinamul Congress leader Ranjan Sil Sharma, councillor of the Siliguri Municipal Corporation, now bears a government sign.
It has been brought to light that many influential politicians have acquired government-owned lands and unutilized plots from departments like PWD, irrigation, housing, forest and even railways in the Siliguri-Jalpaiguri areas.
It is worth noting that Mr Sil Sharma expressed his satisfaction in a recent Press release over the chief minister’s decision.
“Personally, I am pleased with the return of the land to the government. However, I am curious as to why the land department only took back the land under my control and not other establishments on government-owned land in Gajoldoba, particularly near the tourism project Bhorer Alo,” Mr Sil Sharma said, adding, “Despite numerous ponds for fish farming on government-owned land, controlled by more influential individuals than myself, no action has been taken. Overall, Gajoldoba is largely made up of government-owned land.”
Dr Shankar Ghosh, a member of the BJP and MLA for Siliguri, was recently chosen as the Chief Whip for the Opposition in the State Assembly. He stated that numerous leaders from the TMC are implicated in the state government’s land grabbing scandal. One such individual is Debasish Pramanik, but there are also higher-ranking TMC leaders involved in fraudulent land activities in Siliguri.