KOLKATA: A gang allegedly posing as police personnel has been accused of assaulting owners, drivers, suppliers and exporters of stone-chip-laden dumpers and extorting more than Rs 10 lakh from them in Malda district. The victims alleged that some of the assaults took place inside Kaliachak police station premises, prompting the arrest of two alleged extortionists.
The accused, identified as Sonu Kumar and Rajat Saha, allegedly operate in the Englishbazar and Kaliachak police station areas along NH-34 near the India-Bangladesh border.
Victims have lodged complaints with Deputy Inspector General, Malda Division, Anjali Singh, detailing their alleged ordeal and accusing the extortionists of acting with the support of police personnel.
“Several victims have lodged complaints with me, and I am verifying the incident seriously. Anupam Singh, superintendent of police (SP) of Malda, is looking after the case,” Singh told TNIE.
Singh said, “A case has been registered, and two persons have been arrested so far. Investigations are on, and action will be taken if any police personnel are found involved in the incident.”
Madan Ghosh, a Kaliachak resident, and his son Biman, who own an 18-wheel heavy dumper worth around Rs 65 lakh, allegedly paid Rs 5 lakh to the extortionists on September 14. They were among a group of drivers, owners, suppliers and exporters who allegedly were assaulted the previous day and forced to pay money.
According to a family member of Madan, the group of alleged extortionists stopped heavy vehicles at Sustani More, near the Mohodipur zero point on NH-34, and checked documents. Some uniformed personnel from Englishbazar police station were also allegedly present during the checking on September 13.
The vehicles were allegedly directed to parking areas at Sustani More, where stone chips brought from Pakur in Jharkhand and Nalhati in Birbhum district are unloaded and transferred to other dumpers for export to Bangladesh through the Mohodipur border.
The alleged extortionists, reportedly with the help of local police, then took the drivers and others to Kaliachak police station in a prison van, where they were allegedly assaulted and threatened with demands for lakhs of rupees.
The family member said the gang demanded Rs 10 lakh from Madan and his son and called their relatives from the police station, asking them to arrange the money. The family managed to arrange Rs 5 lakh through relatives and paid it through an alleged accomplice on September 14, after which the two were released.
Madan suffered a serious leg fracture, according to an X-ray report, and is undergoing treatment.
Another victim, a stone-chip exporter Faruque Sheikh told TNIE that around 24 drivers, owners, suppliers and exporters, including him, were allegedly taken to Kaliachak police station from the Englishbazar area and assaulted for money.
“I paid Rs 50,000 on the spot on September 13 evening and was released from custody,” he said, adding that he later learnt of the arrests of Sonu and Rajat . Faruque also alleged that another victim, Mozahar, paid Rs 3 lakh. A victim named Nazimul Haque said he paid Rs 45,000.
Baishnabnagar BJP MLA Raju Kumar said he had verbally briefed the Malda SP about the allegations and sought immediate action if they were found to be true. He said no victim had so far lodged an official complaint with him.
A senior administrative officer said the incident had also been brought to the attention of the Chief Minister's Office at the state secretariat in Nabanna.