Police on Friday arrested a Trinamul Congress panchayat member for allegedly accepting a bribe to facilitate allotment of houses under the Awas Yojana and later issuing death threats when asked to return the money.
The accused, Ajay Chanda, is a member of the Durgapur Gram Panchayat in Memari, East Burdwan. He was arrested on the basis of a written complaint lodged by local resident Ram De, police said.
According to the complaint, De’s name had appeared in the Mantri Awas Yojana list in 2019, but he was allegedly denied a house under the scheme. Despite repeated applications to the panchayat authorities, no action was taken, he claimed.
De further alleged that Ajay Chanda later demanded and accepted Rs 20,000 from him, promising to arrange a house under the scheme. The complainant also claimed that Chanda had taken money from several other residents in the area on the same pretext.
On 20 May, when De approached Chanda seeking return of his money, the accused allegedly abused him and threatened to kill him. Following the incident, De lodged a written complaint at Memari police station.
After an investigation, Memari police arrested Chanda on Friday. A case has been registered under Sections 308(5) and 351(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita on charges of extortion and criminal intimidation.
He was produced before the Burdwan court on Friday, where his bail plea was rejected.