<span style="font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #001e2f; background: white; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">The Malda district police made a second arrest in connection with the extortion call made to the senior Trinamool Congress leader and the chairman of English Bazar Municipality, Krishnendu Narayan Chowdhury last week.&nbsp;
<span style="font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #001e2f; background: white; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">The arrest was made on late Saturday night. Sources from the district police said the second person to be arrested in this connection has been identified as Wasim Akram and he was responsible for supplying the SIM card to the main accused in the case, Shahdat Sheikh, who made the extortion call. Sheikh sent a similar message to Chowdhury&rsquo;s mobile phone posing as Pradeep, a D-Company associate.
<span style="font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #001e2f; background: white; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">D-Company is an organised crime syndicate that was founded in Mumbai by notorious gangster Dawood Ibrahim.
<span style="font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #001e2f; background: white; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Shahdat Sheikh, a resident of Kaliachak in Malda district of West Bengal and who was acquainted with Chowdhury, was earlier arrested on Saturday afternoon by the investigating officials. The SIM provided to Akram was used by Sheikh in making the extortion call and sending a similar message.
<span style="font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #001e2f; background: white; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Over the entire development, Chowdhury said he felt that the threat call was made to create panic among the Trinamool Congress leadership in Malda district.
<span style="font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #001e2f; background: white; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">&ldquo;All these started with the murder of our party councillor from English Bazar Municipality in broad daylight on a road last month. The attempts to create panic among the party leadership in the district are continuing,&rdquo; said Chowdhury.
<span style="font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #001e2f; background: white; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">In the face of interrogation, Shahdat Sheikh claimed that he had been under the burden of a huge debt and thought of giving the extortion call to Chowdhury.
<span style="font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #001e2f; background: white; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Incidentally, on Saturday morning, Trinamool Congress Malda district president and the party legislator from Malatipur Assembly constituency in the district, Abdul Rahim Boxi gave an ultimatum to the police and said the ruling party workers would be compelled to react if the police did not take prompt action in the matter.
<span style="font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #001e2f; background: white; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">On Friday, Choudhury filed a police complaint claiming that he received a call on his mobile phone from an unknown caller claiming to be Pradeep of D-Company and threatening him of eliminating his entire family unless he paid an amount of ₹20 lakh within 24 hours.
<span style="font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #001e2f; background: white; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Earlier, Choudhury received two WhatsApp messages on the same lines on his mobile phones which he chose to ignore considering them as pranks.
<span style="font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #001e2f; background: white; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">&nbsp;&mdash;IANS

Krishnendu Narayan Chowdhury —File Photo

The person has been identified as Wasim Akram, who was supplying SIM card to the accused

Another Arrest in TMC Leader Extortion Call Case

The person has been identified as Wasim Akram, who was supplying SIM card to the accused

February 23, 2025 | 14:08 IST