The English Bazar Police have detained five individuals in connection with a case involving threatening phone calls made to Krishnendu Narayan Choudhury, chairman of the English Bazar Municipality in Malda and a senior Trinamul Congress (TMC) leader.
Mr Choudhury, who also serves as thae vice-president of the party’s state committee, received a call from an individual named Pradip, demanding a large sum of money and threatening the lives of Mr Choudhury and his family members.
The caller, claiming to be from “D-Company,” sent a follow-up message asking why the initial message had gone unanswered and demanded payment by the next morning. Mr Choudhury ended the call by challenging the caller to meet in person and immediately alerted the police.
Following the complaint, Malda police intensified their investigation and heightened Mr Choudhury’s security by assigning a senior police officer to oversee the case. Early today, police detained five suspects, including the alleged mastermind, Shahadat Sheikh, son of Noor Sheikh, a resident of New Jadupur, near Kamlabari in English Bazar.
Preliminary investigations reveal that Shahadat orchestrated the threat to extort money and repay debts incurred in his land brokerage business. To create fear and disguise his identity, he used fake details of “D-Company” and spoke in Hindi, pretending to be from outside the state. Police confirmed that Shahadat travelled to Kolkata to make the calls before returning to Malda.
The other four detainees are locals from English Bazar and the neighbouring Kaliachak police station areas. One suspect was apprehended from a neighbouring area in Bihar last night. Police are continuing their interrogation to uncover further details.
When asked to comment, Mr Choudhury stated, “The police are interrogating the detainees. I expect they will identify the mastermind behind this conspiracy against me.”
This incident comes amid growing concerns over the safety of TMC leaders in the region. A few weeks ago, senior TMC leader Dulal Sarkar, alias Babla, was murdered in broad daylight in English Bazar, leaving several party members in a state of fear. Recently, TMC MLA Sabitri Mitra from Manikchak also alleged an attempt on her life, claiming that someone tried to hit her car while she was returning from Manikchak to English Bazar at night.
Political observers note that internal tensions within the TMC are rising, with leaders and MLAs facing pressure to meet the high expectations of their supporters. Factional disputes are also escalating, prompting TMC chief Mamata Banerjee to publicly urge minister Sabina Yeasmin to maintain a good relationship with district party president Abdul Rahim Boxi, who is also an MLA.
To address the ongoing crisis, the party is reportedly considering appointing a new district president for Malda.