Bhangar' anti-power grid agitation leader Alik Chakraborty arrested in Odisha

He was taken to a local police station in Bhubaneswar and would be brought back to West Bengal after seeking a transit remand on Friday.
Image used for representational purpose.
Image used for representational purpose.

KOLKATA: CPI (ML) Red Star leader Alik Chakraborty, who had been leading the anti-power grid agitation in Bhangar in South 24 Parganas district of West Bengal for the past few years, was arrested by a team of West Bengal police from near a private hospital in Bhubaneswar in Odisha on Thursday.

He was taken to a local police station in Bhubaneswar and would be brought back to West Bengal after seeking a transit remand on Friday, sources revealed. Proceedings against him would then take place in West Bengal.

The West Bengal government had been trying to arrest the over-ground Naxal leader for more than a year but could not as he was shielded by residents of over 30 agitating villages in Bhangar I block where the power grid was planned to be established over 16 acres of land.

The West Bengal government has registered cases under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and murder against Chakraborty. Sources revealed that Chakraborty’s movements were tracked by tapping
his phone and it was confirmed that he had left Bhangar for Bhubaneswar for medical treatment.

On the other hand, situation is expected to turn tense in the 30 agitating villages of Bhangar after the arrest that have been agitating against the Power Grid Corporation of India-built power-grid for the past few years.

The region became a battlefield after two people died when police opened fire on agitators of Alik Chakraborty-formed local agitation committee Jomi Jibika Poribesh o Bastutantra Raksha Samiti
(Committee for protection of land, livelihood, environment and ecology) in January last year.

The agitators had again blockaded themselves after Red Star leaders Sharmishtha Choudhury, Pradeep Thakur and Shahnawaz Mollah were arrested later that month. Five of the nine contesting Red Star supported candidates won in the panchayat elections from the region last month.

Related Stories

No stories found.
The New Indian Express
www.newindianexpress.com