By Express News Service
DURGAPUR: CPI (ML) Red Star leader Alik Chakraborty, who was recently nabbed near a private hospital in Bhubaneswar, was sent to 10-day police custody by Baruipur sub-divisional court in South 24 Parganas district of West Bengal on Saturday.
The over-ground Naxal leader, who is one od the main leaders of the anti-power grid agitation in Bhangar in South 24 Parganas, was brought to Kolkata in a transit remand on Saturday morning.
The Naxal leader was then produced to the court by afternoon amid tight security arrangements.
Chakraborty is prime accused in 41 cases, including murder of TMC strongman Arabul Islam's aide Babushona in 2017 and co-accused in over 26 other cases.
The West Bengal government has also booked him under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act for allegedly instigating and misinforming the residents of 30 villages in Bhangar who are waging a pitched agitation against a power grid on 16 acres of land near Khamarait village under the banner of Jomi Jibika Poribesh o Bastutantra Raksha Samiti (Committee for protection of land, livelihood, environment and ecology) for the past few years.
The police have been attempting to arrest the Red Star leader for over a year but was unable as he seldom left the agitators' stronghold villages in Bhangar.
Meanwhile, in an operation that began Friday night, police cleared majority of the 10 blockades that the agitators put up on Haroa Road near the power grid protesting against the arrest of Alik Chakraborty. However, minor protests continued across the villages on Saturday evening.
Many of the agitators feel that the West Bengal government is taking 'revenge' against the agitators after five of the nine candidates put up by them won the Gram Panchayats in Bhangar in the recently-concluded panchayat election in the state.
