Moyna: NIA arrested Trinamool Congress worker Swapan Bhowmik on Friday night in connection with the 2023 Bijoy Krishna Bhunia murder case. Bhowmik, from East Midnapore's Sabang, was allegedly absconding for over a year and half. He was arrested from his daughter's residence from Dashgram in Sabang.
On May 1, 2023, in the run-up to the panchayat elections, Bhunia, a BJP booth president at Goramahal village under Bakra gram panchayat, was abducted from outside his home. Hours later, he was found dead.
While local police took up the probe initially, Bhunia's family moved the Calcutta HC alleging a "state-sponsored cover-up" and demanding a central agency probe. The HC subsequently handed over the probe to the NIA.
The arrest sparked a political war of words in East Midnapore.
Welcoming the move, BJP neta and deputy chief of Bakcha gram panchayat Prosenjit Bhowmik said, "Swapan Bhowmik was on the run since the murder. While the agency is doing its job, our only demand is justice for the killing of Bhunia."
Trinamool, however, called the arrest politically-motivated. Pradip De, a local Trinamool neta, said the central agency was being used as a tool to destabilise the party ahead of polls.
"Whenever Trinamool strengthens its base in Moyna, the NIA starts picking up our frontline workers. Even after 18 months, the agency hasn't filed a final charge sheet. Yet, it continues to harass our netas to instill fear."
NIA is expected to produce Bhowmik before a special court and seek his custody for further interrogation.