Mamata’s party colleague Chhatradhar Mahato arrested by NIA

In a pre-dawn swoop today, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested Trinamool Congress State member Chhatradhar Mahato from his range in Jhargram district’s Lalgarh and whisked him off to Kolkata to be produced before a court around noon. He was asleep when a 40-member team dragged him away, local sources said. A policeman was injured during the incident. The 57-year-old Mr Mahato’s family refused to sign or accept any document served by the agency.

The NIA is investigating multiple cases against Mahato, including the 2009 murder of CPM leader Prabir Ghosh during the Maoist uprising within the Lalgarh area. Following his arrest some time past , Maoists had tried to hijack the Bhubaneswar Rajdhani Express demanding his release. The agency is probing that case, too.

In a video message, his lawyer Kaushik Sinha said he was informed about the event by his client’s wife. He wasn’t allowed to even dress up properly by the agency officials, Mr Sinha said within the clip. The Trinamool leader was removed “without even intimating any case or about the warrant of arrest or any order of a learned court”. “The procedure of arrest adopted by NIA isn’t proper and justified consistent with the supply of CrPC,” Mr Sinha said.

The immediate explanation for Mr Mahato’s arrest is suspected to be his failure to seem before the NIA 3 times every week – at 11 am every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday – as ordered by the court. Yesterday, he was seen casting his vote for the primary time since his arrest under UAPA in 2010.