West Bengal Police have arrested two Trinamool Congress leaders in South 24 Parganas over their alleged involvement in the attack on BJP leader J.P. Nadda’s convoy in December 2020, officials said. Firearms were also seized from the accused during the operation, according to the police.
Ripon Sheikh and Sanjib Mondal were arrested by personnel from Usthi police station on Sunday, and were taken into police custody for questioning. A police officer said investigators were examining their alleged role in the convoy attack and were also trying to establish the source of the firearms recovered from them.
The arrests were announced on Monday, nearly six years after the incident at Shirakol in South 24 Parganas. Police said the two men were influential Trinamool Congress leaders in the Magrahat Paschim area and had also faced allegations of involvement in anti-social activities. Their alleged involvement in the 2020 attack is part of the ongoing investigation; the arrests do not establish guilt, which will be determined through due legal process.
Nadda’s convoy came under attack twice on December 10, 2020, while he was travelling to a meeting at Diamond Harbour. The first attack took place at Sirakol in Usthi, followed by another at Dostipur in Falta. Both locations fall within the Diamond Harbour Lok Sabha constituency, represented by Trinamool Congress general secretary Abhishek Banerjee.
Nadda’s car was damaged in the violence, and several people were injured. Senior BJP leaders Dilip Ghosh and Sukanta Majumdar were also present with Nadda. Ghosh is currently West Bengal’s minister for Panchayat Affairs and Rural Development, while Majumdar is a Union minister of state for education.
The incident triggered a major political confrontation between the BJP and the Trinamool Congress. The two parties exchanged allegations over responsibility for the violence and over the conduct of the police at the scene. Usthi police station had arrested several people at the time of the attack.
The latest arrests place the investigation back in focus as police question the two accused about their alleged connection to the 2020 incident and continue examining the origin of the seized firearms.
