Kolkata: The state CID on Friday arrested a Trinamool councillor from Barasat for allegedly masterminding the abduction of a Tripura-based businessman for a ransom of around Rs 2.3 crore. Trinamool expelled the accused councillor from the party following the arrest.
According to CID sources, Milan Sardar, councillor of Barasat Municipality’s ward number 2, who was accused of being involved in the kidnapping at least thrice and already extorted several crores of rupees as ransom and had gone into hiding, was apprehended from his residence at Barasat’s Subhas Pally.
The businessman was rescued after a CID team raided a posh apartment in Barasat.
According to CID sources, he was kidnapped at gunpoint from the parking lot of an apartment in the Sodepur-Khardah area on Sept 2 and was held captive in the residential complex.
Preliminary investigations suggest that Sardar plotted the abduction from the councillor’s office in ward 2.
Seven others, including a former police officer and the driver of an SUV, have already been arrested.
Barasat Trinamool MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, Trinamool’s district organisational president, confirmed that Sardar has been expelled from the party. “We promptly took action against him for being involved in illegal activities. We have zero tolerance on corruption. If anyone is found guilty, the party will not stand by them,” MP said.
Seven others were earlier arrested in connection with the crime, and CID officials came to know about the councillor’s involvement while interrogating them.