NEW DELHI: A court in West Bengal’s Purba Medinipur district on Wednesday sent Milan Pradhan, the Congress‘ candidate for the upcoming Nandigram bypoll, to judicial custody until October 7, a day after voting, in connection with a 2007 criminal case.The Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate of Contai Court remanded Pradhan to judicial custody after the prosecution sought his custody in connection with a murder charge.Pradhan, who was already in judicial custody until October 5 in a separate Arms Act case, was arraigned on murder and other charges in connection with a case also registered in 2007 during the Nandigram anti-land acquisition movement, his lawyer, Prasenjit Jana, said.The court rejected the Congress candidate’s bail plea, Jana added.The order effectively ended Pradhan’s chances of campaigning for the byelection, as campaigning is scheduled to conclude on October 4. The counting of votes will be held on October 9.
Congress moves Calcutta HC against Pradhan’s arrest
Earlier in the day, the Congress said it had moved the Calcutta high court seeking bail for Pradhan. The high court agreed to hear the matter on Thursday. The West Bengal government did not mention this case during a hearing on September 22.Pradhan’s advocate, Ayan Bhattacharjee, mentioned the matter before Justice Sauagata Bhattacharyya, submitting that the Congress candidate had been shown as arrested and produced before the court for remand in the case.Justice Bhattacharyya on Tuesday verbally asked the West Bengal government’s counsel to allow Pradhan to contest the Nandigram byelection, provided he gets bail in the five criminal cases in which he has been arrested.Pradhan’s arrest on September 18 came just hours after Mamata Banerjee announced that her faction of the Trinamool Congress would support the Congress candidate in Nandigram, after its nominee, Sanchita Pradhan De, withdrew from the contest.The following day, he was sent to judicial custody by the Haldia sub-divisional court until October 3 in connection with four other pending non-bailable arrest warrants linked to cases in Nandigram dating back to 2007.Several criminal cases were registered against Pradhan in 2007 at police stations in Nandigram and Khejuri in Purba Medinipur district.During a hearing on an application filed by him seeking protection from coercive action in six other cases registered against him, the state on Tuesday informed the High Court that five of them had been withdrawn by the previous government and that he was not wanted in the sixth case.
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The high court was informed on Tuesday that Pradhan had been arrested and sent to judicial remand in connection with the other five criminal cases.The October 6 bypoll to the Nandigram Assembly seat was necessitated after chief minister Suvendu Adhikari vacated the constituency and retained Mamata Banerjee’s erstwhile stronghold of Bhabanipur. He won both seats in the assembly polls held earlier this year. The BJP won the assembly elections to form its first government in the state, while the TMC was voted out after 15 years.
