Kolkata: Former Bidhannagar councillor Debraj Chakraborty’s three-week attempt to stay off the police radar by criss-crossing north Bengal and north India on public transport, paying only in cash and avoiding regular calls came to an end after investigators traced the mobile location of an associate to a resort in Jharkhand and eventually arrested the Trinamool national general secretary’s right hand man from a bus in Purulia on Wednesday. It was his son’s annaprasan (rice ceremony) that had prompted Chakraborty to make the call to the associate and his family to plan the event.
Police said Chakraborty first fled to a resort in Kalimpong in the first week of June and then, to Siliguri. After leaving north Bengal, he travelled to at least four northern states over the next three weeks, travelling by public buses and general compartments of trains to dodge attention. He reportedly stayed in small roadside hotels, made all the payments in cash and used his mobile only for internet-based calls, taking care not to leave behind any digital trail until a lapse earlier this week.
“While in hiding, he called his family to discuss the guest list for his son’s annaprashan and also his lawyer, using an associate’s phone. We traced that associate’s location with the help of the mobile tower. From there, we went to a resort in Muri, where Chakraborty had stayed for two days, and finally to Purulia, where our STF team stopped the bus he had boarded for Dhanbad,” a senior police officer said.
Chakraborty was arrested following a complaint of extortion, lodged by a promoter, Abhijit Saha, at the Baguiati PS on May 22. Saha alleged he was threatened and forced to pay Rs 30 lakh. Another former councillor, Manish Mukherjee, was also named in the FIR.
Chakraborty was on Thursday produced in a Barasat court, which remanded him in seven-day police custody. As the news spread, hundreds gathered outside the Barasat court, with several people carrying eggs, apparently ready to hurl at Chakraborty. But police deployed RAF, combat forces and a large contingent of officers, led by senior Barasat Police District officers, to secure the premises.
Around 3.30 pm, as the police vehicle ferried Chakraborty into the court complex, protesters threw eggs at the vehicle, forcing cops to stay put for a while. But when police finally escorted him to the court lock-up, a second round of egg-throwing followed though none of the eggs reportedly struck Chakraborty. Instead, those landed on the police vehicle and the security personnel.
At Baguiati, BJP workers, led by Rajarhat-Gopalpur MLA Tarunjyoti Tiwari, reportedly celebrated Chakraborty’s arrest by smearing abir, distributing sweets and beating dhaak. Joining them was Purnima Das, mother of BJP worker Prasenjit Das, who was reportedly killed in the 2021 post-poll violence. “I am happy Debraj is arrested. He is the mastermind behind my son’s death. I hope he gets the maximum punishment,” she said.
Chakraborty’s arrest came a week after the Calcutta High Court granted anticipatory bail to his wife, former Rajarhat-Gopalpur MLA Aditi Munshi, given she has a four-year-old child, but refused protection to him in a case of earning assets disproportionate to earnings. Justice Jay Sengupta directed Mto cooperate with the investigation but didnt offer any such protection to Chakraborty.
“He would have still evaded arrest had he not made the phone call at home and multiple other persons discussing the guest list and plans for the child’s annaprashan,” an officer investigating into the case said.