An Indian Secular Front (ISF) candidate and 16 others have been arrested in West Bengal following a protest over voter list deletions that allegedly involved the confinement of judicial officials, raising concerns about election-related tensions.
Key Points
- Seventeen people, including ISF candidate Maulana Shahjahan Ali, have been arrested in Malda, West Bengal, for allegedly confining judicial officials.
- The arrests are linked to a protest regarding the deletion of names from electoral rolls at the Kaliachak II block office.
- The judicial officials were allegedly confined for over seven hours during the voter list protest.
- Maulana Shahjahan Ali denies the charges, claiming he was falsely implicated due to his political affiliation with the ISF.
- Police are continuing their investigation and have not ruled out further arrests in connection with the incident.
Police on Thursday arrested at least 17 people, including a poll candidate, for their alleged involvement in the gherao of seven judicial officials in West Bengal's Malda district over the deletion of names from electoral rolls, a senior officer said.
Indian Secular Front (ISF) candidate Maulana Shahjahan Ali and 16 others were arrested and produced before a district court, he said, adding that they were remanded to 10 days of police custody.
"These people were involved in last night's incident in Malda. We have got concrete evidence. They will be questioned," the policeman said.
Details of the Incident
The arrests follow an incident on Wednesday at the Kaliachak II block office, under Mothabari Assembly constituency, where seven judicial officials, engaged in voter list-related work, were allegedly confined for over seven-and-a-half hours by a group of protesters at a BDO office.
Three of the officials were women.
Candidate's Response
After his arrest, Ali denied the charges and claimed he was being framed due to his political affiliation.
"I have been falsely implicated because I am an ISF candidate," he told reporters while being produced in court.
He also claimed he was not present at the site during the incident.
"I had gone to attend a religious gathering and was returning home when I was arrested. There is a conspiracy against me," he said.
Police are investigating the incident and have not ruled out further arrests.
