Over 1,500 ‘troublemakers’ arrested ahead of phase 2 polling, TMC councillor among those detained

Ahead of the second phase of Assembly elections, police across West Bengal have arrested 1,543 individuals in a span of 36 hours as part of an intensified crackdown to prevent potential disturbances. The action was reportedly carried out following directions from the Election Commission, which had instructed authorities to identify and detain those who could create unrest before polling in 142 constituencies scheduled for Wednesday.

According to administrative inputs, 1,095 arrests were made between Sunday afternoon and Monday morning alone, with the total figure rising sharply as operations continued. District-wise data shows East Burdwan recorded the highest number of arrests at 479, followed by North 24 Parganas with 319 and South 24 Parganas with 246. Additional arrests included 109 in North Kolkata, 49 in Hooghly, and 32 each in Nadia and Howrah.

Among those detained is a Trinamool Congress councillor from East Burdwan, identified as Narugopal Bhakat of Ward No. 22 of the Burdwan Municipality. He was reportedly arrested from his residence late on Sunday night and is accused of involvement in an attack on a BJP leader’s house as well as acts of intimidation, further intensifying political tensions.

The crackdown has triggered sharp reactions from the Trinamool Congress. Party leaders, including Rajya Sabha MP and former Director General of Police Rajeev Kumar, alleged that many arrests were carried out solely based on verbal inputs from police observers, which he described as a violation of due process and election norms. He claimed that proper legal procedures, including documentation and charge-sheeting, were not being followed in several cases.

Authorities, however, maintained that the measures are necessary to ensure voter safety and conduct free and peaceful elections. Administrative sources indicated that such drives may be further intensified in the coming days to maintain law and order, even as the political debate over the arrests continues to escalate ahead of polling.