Police arrests Howrah's TMC labor wing leader for running Hawker extortion racket

In a major crackdown on political extortion networks, the Detective Department of the Howrah City Police has arrested a powerful Trinamool Congress (TMC) labor wing leader from Siliguri. The arrested accused has been identified as Aravinda Das, popularly known as Tablu in political circles. Das, who is known to be an extremely close associate of the Indian National Trinamool Trade Union Congress (INTTUC) district president, had been on the run following multiple specific allegations of running an organized extortion syndicate.

Acting on precise intelligence inputs regarding his whereabouts, a special team from the Howrah City Police tracked Das down to North Bengal. He had reportedly been hiding in Siliguri to evade law enforcement after his extortion activities came under intense police scrutiny. The detective department executed a swift raid, taking him into custody before he could alter his location. He is currently being brought back to Howrah on transit remand for detailed custodial interrogation.

Investigating officers revealed that Tablu Das was the absolute kingpin behind the notorious "Hawker Raj" operating around the highly congested Howrah Station area. For years, he allegedly ran a structured extortion racket, forcing hundreds of local pavement hawkers and small stall owners to pay daily or weekly protection money. Vendors who resisted his financial demands were reportedly threatened with physical violence or had their stalls forcibly removed from the station periphery.