Five former ministers and legislators in West Bengal have been arrested within roughly five months in cases involving alleged corruption, public-scheme irregularities, post-election violence and other offences, according to a report by Sangbad Pratidin. The latest arrest was that of former tourism and information-and-cultural-affairs minister Indranil Sen on 28 October, bringing the number of former ministers or legislators detained in the reported sequence to five.
The arrests have taken place after a change in government in the state, with the cases involving a range of institutions and public functions. The allegations cited in the report include irregularities in municipal recruitment, alleged collection of illegal payments under a housing scheme, diversion of government relief material, alleged land-related irregularities and corruption in contracts connected with Durga Puja passes. None of the allegations establishes guilt, which can only be determined through due legal process.
The first arrest in the reported sequence was that of former fire-services minister Sujit Bose on 11 May. The Enforcement Directorate arrested Bose in connection with alleged financial transactions during his tenure as deputy chairperson of the South Dum Dum Municipality. The report alleges that the case includes claims relating to recommendations for 150 illegal appointments and irregularities in recruitment. Bose has remained in jail for nearly five months, the report said, after bail applications before the Calcutta High Court were not granted before the Durga Puja period.
On 27 May, Bishnupur legislator and former minister of state for transport Dilip Mondal was arrested from a hotel in Puri. The arrest initially concerned alleged provocative statements and threats made after the election, under non-bailable provisions, according to the report. It said that Mondal was subsequently linked to other cases involving alleged institutional corruption, including alleged theft of earth from government land.
Former prisons minister and Krishnanagar South legislator Ujjal Biswas was arrested by Nadia’s Kotwali police on 9 June. The allegation cited in the report was that government relief materials had been stored illegally at his home and that there had been an attempt to divert them. Biswas is the only one among the five named individuals who has received bail, according to the report.
The fourth arrest was that of former North Bengal development minister and Dinhata legislator Udayan Guha on 17 June. He was arrested from a flat in Phoolbagan in Kolkata in connection with several allegations. The report said the initial case involved alleged illegal payments, commonly described as cut money, under the Awas housing scheme. It also said that police later began investigating allegations connected with violence after the 2021 and 2024 elections and other corruption cases.
The latest case concerns Indranil Sen, a former tourism and information-and-cultural-affairs minister and a noted Bengali singer. The report said Sen was arrested in a case involving the alleged sale of Durga Puja passes and tender-related corruption involving crores of rupees. The arrest makes him the fifth former minister or legislator named in the report to be detained since the state’s change of government.
The cases span agencies and levels of administration, including the Enforcement Directorate, state police and municipal institutions. Their common public-interest dimension is the alleged misuse of systems that determine access to jobs, housing assistance, government relief and public contracts. The report did not provide final court findings in any of the cases. The legal proceedings and bail decisions will determine how the allegations develop.
