Debraj Chakraborty, husband of ex-TMC MLA Aditi Munshi and a once-influential TMC councillor from the Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation, was arrested late on Wednesday night after the Calcutta High Court rejected his plea for anticipatory bail. He was apprehended by police in Purulia, effectively ending his legal attempts to avoid arrest. Chakraborty had recently faced a major setback in a case involving allegations of disproportionate assets and suppression of information in his election affidavit. With the High Court dismissing his anticipatory bail application, legal protection from arrest was no longer available to him.
In the same case, Justice Joy Sengupta granted anticipatory bail to his wife—a popular singer and former MLA from Rajarhat-Gopalpur—taking into account that she is the mother of a four-month-old infant. However, the court directed her to fully cooperate with the ongoing investigation.
Following Chakraborty’s arrest, sharp political reactions emerged from the BJP. Party MLA Tarunjyoti Tiwari, who had been actively campaigning against him, launched a strong attack, stating, “A bandit has been arrested. Now, the people of the area will find peace.”
Tiwari has alleged that over the past five years, Chakraborty and his wife amassed substantial wealth through illegal means by misusing their political influence. According to the allegations, assets worth at least Rs 100 crore were transferred into the names of relatives and benami holders in an attempt to conceal unaccounted funds and misrepresent financial disclosures during elections.
During the court proceedings, the state’s counsel presented serious allegations, claiming that Chakraborty built a vast fortune through extortion, intimidation of real estate developers, and forcible land acquisition in the Rajarhat–New Town region and surrounding areas. It was also alleged that, ahead of the elections, funds were siphoned off from multiple bank accounts—including one based in Kalimpong—to other locations under suspicious circumstances.
Chakraborty had come under increasing scrutiny in recent weeks, with his name surfacing in multiple cases ranging from alleged job recruitment scams to extortion. His presence in Purulia prior to arrest has raised questions over whether he was attempting to evade law enforcement.
With the High Court rejecting his plea, Chakraborty was left with no legal shield, leading to his immediate arrest. The detention of the high-profile Trinamool leader has triggered significant political ripples across North 24 Parganas district and the state, intensifying the already charged political atmosphere.