Police on Saturday arrested former TMC MLA from Naihati, North 24 Parganas, Sanat Dey on charges of extortion and allegedly assaulting BJP workers. He was apprehended from Duttapukur in the morning and is expected to be produced before the Barrackpore Sub-divisional Court later in the day.
Following his arrest and subsequent transfer to the Naihati police station, BJP workers gathered assembled and staged a protest.
According to police and local sources, Dey has been an influential figure in the politics of the Barrackpore industrial belt. He was known to be a close associate of former state minister Partha Bhowmick and had earlier served as a Council-in-Chairman of the Naihati Municipality.
Dey was elected as an MLA from the Naihati constituency on a TMC ticket in a by-election after Bhowmick resigned his Assembly seat to contest the 2024 Barrackpore Lok Sabha election. However, he was defeated in the 2026 Assembly polls.
The BJP has alleged that Dey was involved in multiple criminal activities, including extortion, both before and during his tenure as an MLA. Several complaints were lodged against him at the Naihati police station in recent months.
After the complaints were filed, Dey had reportedly gone into hiding. Police teams had earlier visited his residence to conduct searches, but he was not found at the time. He was eventually arrested from Duttapukur on Saturday.
Reacting to the arrest, Noapara MLA and State Transport Minister Arjun Singh said, “Dey is primarily known in Naihati as an extortionist. After becoming an MLA, his ‘zero-investment business’ expanded further. The administration deserves thanks for arresting him. We want a thorough investigation into all his alleged crimes.”
BJP leader Debarghya Ghosh claimed that Dey operated an extortion network across Naihati even before becoming an MLA and that such activities intensified during his tenure. He further alleged that opposition workers were harassed and falsely implicated in cases.
BJP Mahila Morcha leader Jinia Chakraborty also levelled serious allegations, stating that her house was vandalised multiple times after the 2021 Assembly elections due to her political affiliation. She claimed that several BJP workers in the area had faced similar attacks.
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