The West Bengal Police has arrested the alleged “mastermind” of the gherao of seven court officials in Malda district, a senior officer said on Friday. He was identified as Mofakkarul Advocate of Islam.
Mofakkarul Islam was arrested at the Bagdogra Airport in Siliguri while trying to board the plane, an officer was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
“He is the mastermind behind the Kaliachak incident in which seven court officials were imprisoned inside the block office for several hours on Wednesday evening. He was trying to board a plane to escape,” an officer told PTI.
Read also | West Bengal: EC hands over Malda violence case to NIA following SC directives
Meanwhile, ADG North Bengal K Jayaraman said on Friday, “We have arrested Mofakkarul Islam from Bagdogra airport for inciting people. He was going to his residence in Ithar. We will not allow any such activity. We will definitely check if it was pre-planned. We have handed over the CAPF to judicial officers after this incident. So far 35 people have been arrested.”
Who is Mofakkarul Islam?
ADG (North Bengal) K Jayaraman said that Mofakkarul Islam hails from Itahar in Uttar Dinajpur district and currently resides in Kolkata.
According to X’s account, Mofakkarul Islam is an advocate in the Calcutta High Court. He is also the leader of Asaduddin Owaisi’s All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), NDTV reported.
Mofakkarul Islam has reportedly contested the 2021 elections from Itahar Assembly constituency on an AIMIM ticket.
Read also | West Bengal: EC hands over Malda violence case to NIA following SC directives
“He has 3 million followers on the social media page and is an advocate in the Calcutta High Court. He fought the elections from his hometown on an AIMIM ticket,” West Bengal AIMIM chief Imran Solanki told NDTV.
Solanki further told the media house that Mofakerrul Islam has been very active in raising his voice against issues like Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), National Register of Citizens (NRC) and Special Intensive Review (SIR) for Muslims.
“AIMIM gave him a ticket after seeing his popularity due to the work he did and the way he addressed the crowd,” he said. Islam was also reportedly entrusted with the administration of the northern zone by AIMIM.
According to PTI, Jayaraman said three cases were registered against Mofakkarul Islam at the Kaliachak police station for allegedly “inciting” local residents through speeches on Wednesday, following which seven court officials were driven to block office Kaliachak-2 under Motabari constituency.
Read also | Lockdown extended by 2 days at Malda’s Englishbazar
“After the incident, we started tracking Mofakkarul Islam and with the help of West Bengal Crime Investigation Department (CID) and Siliguri Police, we nabbed him and his associate from Bagdogra Airport,” he said.
“Three cases have been filed against him for inciting locals at three different places,” he said, adding that a total of 19 cases were filed in connection with the Kaliachak incident.
In the latest arrest, police have so far arrested 35 people, including an ISF candidate, for their alleged involvement in the incident, he added.
What happened on Malda?
Thousands of people on Wednesday reportedly blocked two gates of the Kaliachowk-2 Block Development Office (BDO) and held employees, including seven court officials, “hostage” for hours before they were rescued after midnight.
The impasse was triggered by mass deletions from electoral rolls under the ongoing Special Intensive Review (SIR) process.
Read also | BJP delegation meets President over Malda violence
The incident was part of a wider wave of protests that paralyzed Malda throughout the day as protesters staged road blockades across national and state highways and key rural roads in at least five assembly constituencies.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) began investigating the incident by registering a “preliminary inquiry” into the Malda violence incident. The counter-terrorism agency launched a preliminary inquiry late on Thursday after the Election Commission of India (ECI) formally referred the matter and sent a letter to its director general, PTI reported.
Elections to the 294-member West Bengal Assembly will be held in two phases on April 23 and April 29, with counting scheduled for May 4.
(With inputs from ANI and PTI)
