KOLKATA: The head of a Jalpaiguri-based NGO, who helped an elderly man who was seen carrying his dead wife on his shoulders, was arrested by the police over a complaint accusing him of orchestrating the episode to defame the state government.
Ankur Das, the secretary of the NGO was arrested after prolonged interrogation on Thursday. His NGO had stepped in by providing an ambulance to transport the body home. Police sources said the complaint was lodged by Dilip Dutta, the head of a local ambulance provider.
In the incident, Jaikrishna Dewan and his son had alleged that they had to carry the 72-year-old dead homemaker Lakhhirani on their shoulder as they did not have enough money to hail an ambulance. They had claimed that ambulance providers turned down their requests. In his complaint, Dutta alleged Das was aware that the father and son were not in a position to hire an ambulance and manipulated them.