Mofakkarul Islam, the alleged mastermind of the hostage taker incident of seven judicial officers in Malda district of West Bengal, was also arrested when he tried to escape the state on board an airplane. The arrest was made at the Bagdogra Airport in Siliguri, two days after the outrageous event where judicial officers were held at a time of eight hours.
The head of the police force has acknowledged it to be the brains behind the Kaliachak incident, in which seven judicial officers were gheraoed inside the Block Development Office during several hours on Wednesday night and he was trying to flee by air when he was arrested.
This has seen the police arrest 33 people over the case, including an Indian Secular Front (ISF) candidate. The case happened under Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Malda before the West Bengal Assembly elections. The arrest of the officers in the Kaliachak 2 Block Development Office began at about 4 pm when protesters alleged that the names of legitimate voters were removed off the draft electoral rolls, which left the local people angry.
Three of the officers were women, and their responsibility was to adjudicate on cases in which the names of voters had been marked under adjudication in the draft rolls published on February 28.
The government moved promptly to find and arrest the culprits, pointing out that this kind of intimidation of judicial officers was not tolerated at all and a direct assault on the rule of law. This investigation is still in the process of being carried out and the police are still investigating the roles of other persons who were involved in masterminding the hostage situation so that accountability is taken and no further efforts to derail the electoral process are made.
This arrest is a milestone to sustaining law and order in the area as well as strengthening the security of the officials carrying out important electoral roles.