KOLKATA: BJP leader Jitendra Tiwari, who defected from the Trinamool Congress, was arrested by Bengal police on Saturday from Noida, Delhi, in connection with the stampede in Asansol, West Burdwan, in December last year in which three persons, including a student, died during a blanket distribution programme. Tiwari was intercepted on Yamuna Expressway when he was travelling with his wife Chaitali.
The BJP leader was booked under the charges of culpable homicide not amounting to murder and attempt to murder. Tiwari, who was also mayor of Asansol municipal corporation, contested in the 2021 Assembly elections on a BJP ticket but failed to secure victory.
Eacting to Ttiwari’s arrest BJP’s state president Sukanta Majumdar said the Trinamool Congress-led government has been harassing Tiwari and his wife. “He is being harassed so that he leaves the BJP and returns to the TMC,’’ he alleged.