Kolkata, Sep 21 (IANS) Aam Janata Unnayan Party (AJUP) chief and Nowda MLA Humayun Kabir on Monday appeared before Murshidabad district police in West Bengal for questioning in connection with a case related to a controversial audio clip.
As directed by the police, Kabir reached Berhampore police station before 11 am.
Kabir expressed his anger after appearing before the police, despite saying he would cooperate with the investigation. He also voiced apprehension that he could be arrested ahead of the Rejinagar Assembly by-election scheduled for October 6.
He has also approached the Election Commission of India (ECI), alleging that party workers are being arrested one after another.
The police had summoned Kabir on Saturday to appear for questioning at 11 a.m. on Monday. He arrived before the scheduled time. Before entering the police station, Kabir spoke about several issues and revived an earlier allegation that his son-in-law had been framed.
The former Trinamool Congress leader accused three police officers of being involved in framing him. “Those officers had to face reprimands in court. Now they have summoned me,” Kabir said.
He also accused the officers of “appeasing” the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Kabir expressed anger over the arrests of several party leaders.
“The administration is arresting my party’s people arbitrarily. They can arrest me too if they want,” he said.
An audio recording of a phone conversation involving Kabir recently surfaced and was circulated on social media. IANS has not independently verified the authenticity of the audio.
It has been alleged that Kabir made provocative remarks during the conversation. Following a complaint, a case was registered at a police station.
The Berhampore police visited Kabir’s residence on Saturday afternoon to investigate the case. The police said a case had been registered against him under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
The AJUP founder alleged that police were deliberately arresting several leaders of his party ahead of the by-election.
Manjur Rahman alias Lebu, Haque Mallick and Abdul Alim were arrested by personnel from Rejinagar and Shaktipur police stations between Saturday night and Sunday morning.
Mohammad Nasim Sheikh was arrested from Miyagram in Shaktipur. Nasim is known to be close to Kabir. The other arrested persons are also associated with AJUP.
Manjur Rahman’s wife is a member of the Beldanga-II Panchayat Samiti. Haque Mallick is the AJUP’s Rejinagar block vice-president and is in charge of six regions, while Abdul Alim is the president of the Dadpur region.
The police also arrested one more person on Monday.
–IANS
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