Fresh blow to TMC! Ex-Bidhannagar Mayor Sabyasachi Dutta arrested in extortion case

Dutta was taken into custody late Monday night after a police case was registered against him earlier in the evening.

Businessman Alleges Extortion

According to the complaint, a businessman accused the TMC leader of extorting several lakh rupees from him in 2018.

Acting on the complaint, police registered a First Information Report (FIR) and subsequently arrested Dutta.

Sabyasachi Dutta denies charge

Speaking to the reporters, Dutta has denied the charge calling it "false and fabricated". 

In a counter allegation, he said, "The complainent was arrested in 2018. He has remained under arrested multiple times in fraud cases... It's definitely a vindictive politics."

Political Career

Once a highly influential political figure in the Salt Lake region, Dutta represented the Rajarhat New Town Assembly constituency as an MLA from 2011 to 2021.

He also served as the first Mayor of Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation from 2015 to 2019.

In 2019, Dutta joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and remained with the party until 2021 before returning to the TMC.

In recent years, he served as the Chairman of Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation and held key organisational responsibilities for the TMC in the Barasat region.

Part of Wider Crackdown

Dutta's arrest comes amid a series of police actions involving several TMC leaders following the party's defeat in the April-May elections this year.

Several prominent TMC figures, including former MLA Sujit Bose and Jahangir Khan, a close aide of party national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, have been arrested in separate cases.

Abhishek Banerjee has also been summoned in multiple investigations, while former West Bengal minister Aroop Biswas, who has been accused in the alleged "Messi event" case, remains absconding.