A Bengal Police civic volunteer was arrested on Tuesday in connection with the Canning assault case after investigators alleged that he may have leaked police movement information to Trinamool Congress MLA Paresh Ram Das, helping him evade arrest on earlier occasions.
Bikash Sahani had been detained along with Das at the city airport on Monday. Police are questioning Sahani to establish whether he informed the MLA about attempts to locate and arrest him. Investigators have not yet publicly established that the civic volunteer passed on such information, and his alleged role remains under examination.
According to police sources cited in the case, teams had visited several locations on different occasions to arrest Das but found that he had left before they arrived. The investigation is now examining whether those movements were disclosed in advance and whether Sahani had access to information about police operations.
During Das’s arrest, police seized ₹2 lakh and six mobile phones, along with the relevant seizure documents. The investigating agency told the court that the seized articles would be produced before it and sought police custody of the MLA, saying custodial interrogation was required to reconstruct the events connected to the case.
Police also told the court that 32 cases had been registered against Das. His lawyer, Tirthankar Roy, opposed the request for police custody and alleged that the arrest was politically motivated. Roy claimed that Das was being targeted because he had remained loyal to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee after the party’s electoral defeat.
The defence also questioned the timing of the complaint, saying it relates to an incident in 2023 and was filed only on September 5, 2026, after the complainant had moved to Tamil Nadu. Roy raised questions about the delay in the medical examination and alleged that the police had sought 11 days of custody to pressure Das to change his political allegiance.
Roy further told the court that Das was already out on bail in all 32 cases cited by the police and accused the investigating agency of selectively presenting facts. The defence sought bail, while the police maintained that custody was necessary for further investigation.
The civic volunteer was remanded in police custody until November 13, while Das was sent to police custody until November 17. The next stages of the investigation will include the examination of the seized devices and documents, as well as questioning aimed at reconstructing the alleged assault and determining whether police information was leaked.
