The Siliguri Police Commissionerate has arrested a Trinamul Congress leader, known as Muhammad Ahid alias Chootki, for illegally occupying state-owned land in the Dabgram Fulbari area of Jalpaiguri district.
Md Ahid was remanded in police custody for 10 days for further interrogation and investigation.
Acting on instructions from chief minister Mamata Banerjee, a special police team arrested Ahid and his accomplice on Monday night.
This action follows the arrest of two other TMC leaders, Debasish Pramanik and Goutam Goswami, who were terminated by the party after being found guilty of seizing and selling government land.
Another TMC leader from Darjeeling district was also recently arrested for a similar offense in Naxalbari, after complaints were filed by the land and land reforms department.
Sources reveal that Ahid has been involved in this illegal activity for some time, working with corrupt officials from the Rajganj block land and land reforms office.
He is accused of fraudulently obtaining government land that was designated for industrial and residential projects, using falsified documents to claim ownership of certain plots, located near Uttarkanya, a branch secretariat for north Bengal.
Some of these lands were sold off while others were kept by Ahid for personal commercial use in prime locations.
In line with the chief minister’s orders, the Jalpaiguri district police and land and land reforms department have demolished numerous properties, such as resorts and farmhouses in Gajoldoba area near the state’s tourism hub Bhorer Alo.
These properties were built by a group of TMC leaders and their associates on government-owned vested lands.