The anti-corruption drive and law-and-order crackdown in West Bengal has intensified sharply over the past week. Operating with heightened coordination, police forces and central investigative agencies have launched sweeping actions against numerous Trinamool Congress (TMC) leaders across multiple districts. In a span of just seven days, more than 70 leaders, municipal councillors, and public representatives have been taken into custody.

The charges multi-classify into serious offenses, including systemic institutional corruption, extortion networks, the unauthorized misuse of government property, post-poll violence, and voter intimidation.

The momentum of these operations marks a major shift in the state's political and administrative landscape, moving rapidly from high-level state investigations down to localized grassroots networks.

Municipal Chief Dipankar Bhattacharya Taken into Custody Following Major Cash Recovery

The latest and arguably one of the most significant developments emerged from the Baduria zone in the North 24 Parganas district. On the night of May 25, police officials arrested the Chairman of the Baduria Municipality and prominent TMC leader, Dipankar Bhattacharya, in connection with deep-seated financial improprieties. The formal arrest followed a series of synchronized raids at multiple locations directly linked to the municipal head. During these operations, investigators recovered approximately Rs 80 lakh in cash alongside large quantities of government-procured relief tarpaulins.

The details of the raid reveal a highly organized concealment strategy. Investigators found the bulk of the cash hidden inside a local computer training center situated immediately beside the chairman’s private residence. According to official statements from law enforcement, the training center was under Bhattacharya's direct administrative control, and he held exclusive access to its keys.

The scope of the case widened significantly when officers extended their search to a local party office and an isolated garden house located near his home in Ward No. 12 of the Baduria Municipality. Sources close to the investigation confirmed that around 4,000 government-issued relief tarpaulins—intended for public disaster aid—had already been seized from these locations.

The execution of the raid was fraught with tension. Local residents claimed that shortly before the police contingent reached the spot, a group of TMC workers attempted to clear compromising evidence. The workers reportedly used vans to rapidly shift heavy bundles of tarpaulins and other materials away from the party office. Furthermore, witnesses reported seeing bundles of official documents being systematically burned outside the office premises in an effort to destroy records.

Police units, acting on precise intelligence received late Sunday night on May 24, arrived to secure the area. During the subsequent midnight operation, officers successfully recovered the remaining relief materials from both the party office and the nearby isolated garden house. Following these discoveries, local workers submitted a formal complaint at the Baduria police station, which provided the immediate legal basis for Dipankar Bhattacharya’s arrest.

TMC Labor Leader Sheikh Wasul Apprehended on Intimidation, Fraud, and Election Pressure Charges

In a parallel late-night operation, police forces targeted the Laudoha area under the Durgapur-Faridpur block, arresting Sheikh Wasul, the sitting president of a prominent TMC labor union unit. Police sources indicated that Wasul had been under surveillance for an extended period, noting that complaints against him had existed for a long time.

Local residents had stepped forward with severe accusations, alleging that Wasul ran an employment fraud scheme where he took significant sums of money from hopeful job-seekers by promising them employment. Additionally, he faced widespread accusations of using physical coercion and intimidation among locals to maintain political control over the area.

Crucially, Wasul was facing accusations of trying to influence voters and creating severe tension before the Assembly elections. Documents show that several local residents had approached the police with formal complaints even before polling commenced. Following his apprehension in the late-night sweep, Wasul, a resident of the Rangamati pocket in Durgapur-Faridpur, was presented before the Durgapur Sub-Divisional Court to face formal charges. His arrest has quickly become part of the wider action being taken against TMC leaders after the political shift in Bengal.

Bidhannagar Extortion Nexus Unravels: Amit Chakrabarty Arrested for Assault

The widening net of the anti-corruption drive hit the high-profile urban hub of Bidhannagar, resulting in the arrest of TMC leader Amit Chakrabarty late on May 19. Chakrabarty, who wields considerable political influence across the Baguiati area, is widely considered a close associate of former Rajarhat-Gopalpur MLA Debraj Chakraborty.

The police acted after a formal complaint was lodged by a local real estate businessman, Kishor Halder. Halder’s detailed complaint accused Chakrabarty of direct involvement in assault, intimidation, and wrongful restraint. According to police records, the violent incident took place on May 4, a day marked by friction when local supporters had organized a victory procession.

Chakrabarty's arrest was not an isolated event; it came just days after police had taken Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation councillor Samaresh Chakrabarty into custody. This previous arrest involved an extortion-related case connected to the exact same businessman, Kishor Halder. Halder had earlier raised formal complaints against multiple TMC leaders over continuous intimidation and illegal money demands, exposing what investigators view as a systemic racket targeting local infrastructure developers.

Councilors Ranjan Poddar and Local Party Functionaries Detained in Extortion Sweeps

The anti-extortion drive in Bidhannagar expanded further with the high-profile arrest of Ranjan Poddar, the sitting councillor of Ward No. 34 and the borough chairman of the Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation. Poddar, who is publicly considered close to former cabinet minister Sujit Basu, became the prime target of police action after a wave of collective complaints were formally lodged by local hawkers, transport operators, and small business owners from the Salt Lake commercial hubs.

Detectives subjected Poddar to intense questioning regarding regular cash collection networks before formally placing him under arrest. His close associate, Rana Haldar, was also taken into custody in connection with the same matter.

As the local network continued to unravel, separate individual complaints led to the swift arrests of two more local TMC functionaries: Soumik Das, known locally as Raja, and Bijoy Rajbanshi. Both were processed under severe extortion charges. These rapid-fire arrests have brought significantly increased attention to Bidhannagar, where several leaders linked to the earlier municipal administration are now facing intense judicial and financial scrutiny.

Former Minister Sujit Basu Arrested by ED in Municipal Recruitment Scam

The most prominent political figure compromised in the ongoing anti-graft drive is the former West Bengal Minister, Sujit Basu. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested the former Fire and Emergency Services Minister in connection with the long-running South Dum Dum Municipality recruitment scam. According to official filings by the federal agency, Basu allegedly recommended nearly 150 candidates for institutional jobs within the South Dum Dum Municipality in direct exchange for illicit financial benefits.

ED investigators stated that multiple fixed properties, including high-value flats, were traced during the detailed probe and were directly connected to these corrupt municipal appointments. Furthermore, the federal agency uncovered large, unexplained cash deposits in bank accounts linked directly to him and his immediate circle. The arrest was executed immediately after a gruelling, continuous session of over ten hours of questioning by ED officials at his residence.

According to investigators, these irregular and fraudulent appointments took place between 2014 and 2016, a period when Basu was actively associated with the South Dum Dum Municipality as its vice-chairman. The agency believes nearly 1,000 recruitments across 17 different municipalities were made unlawfully during that specific period, pointing to a massive, state-wide institutional syndicate.

The case has been formally registered under the stringent provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). Sujit Basu, who recently lost the Bidhannagar Assembly seat to the BJP by a margin of over 37,000 votes, holds the distinction of becoming the first former minister to be arrested after the BJP government came to power in Bengal.

Enforcement Drives Spread Unchecked Across Bengal Districts

The anti-corruption and law-and-order drive has broken out of the state capital and now spread across multiple rural and urban districts simultaneously. On Saturday, May 23, a massive coordinated sweep resulted in the arrest of 17 TMC leaders in different parts of the state. Among those processed were Kolkata Municipal Corporation councillor Sudip Polle from Ward No. 123, alongside Bidhannagar councillor Samrat Baruah, who is currently facing severe extortion-related charges.

The crackdown also heavily targeted political violence. In the Jagatballabhpur region of Howrah district, gram panchayat deputy president Gurupad Majhi and his brother, Raju Majhi, were arrested by local police. Their arrest is tied to a post-poll violence case linked to brutal attacks on local workers after the 2021 Assembly elections.

Similarly, Hooghly district saw swift action where Dadpur panchayat member Altab Hussain Malik was arrested and taken into custody under another post-poll violence case.

In Konnagar, municipal councillor Bablu Pal, also widely known as Khokhan, was arrested following a long list of public grievances. Pal faces severe accusations of illegally occupying government land for the construction of party offices, running unauthorized businesses, and preparing fake documents for fraudulent land transactions. The police operation was notably conducted in the direct presence of local MLA Dipanjan Chakraborty.

Moving eastward into the Nadia district, senior TMC leader Ramzan Ali Mondal was arrested after local residents revolted against his operations. Citizens formally accused him of continuous intimidation, forcing local independent contractors to buy construction materials exclusively through his personal syndicate network, and running a parallel administrative system in the locality. His primary associate, Pradeep Santra, was also arrested during the same operation.

In Murshidabad, a notorious local strongman, Abu Bakkar, was caught in a special police operation in connection with an attempted murder case. Meanwhile, in the industrial belt of Paschim Bardhaman, panchayat member Sheikh Kamruddin was arrested in cases linked to election-related terror, systemic corruption, and financial extortion.

Finally, in the northern reaches of Dinhata within the Cooch Behar region, panchayat deputy president Bhavranjan Barman was arrested following an egregious assault case. Barman faces explicit accusations that a local worker, Ajay Adhikari, was forcibly taken to a TMC party office, severely beaten, and asked to pay an extortion sum of Rs 50,000.

With the total number of detentions surging past 70 in just one week, the anti-corruption campaign has decisively moved beyond primary recruitment scams. The investigations have permeated deep into local bodies, village panchayats, municipalities, and grassroots organizations, placing a vast network of TMC leaders under active, ongoing criminal investigation across the entire state.