Representative image

KOLKATA: A local Trinamool Congress leader in Sinthee has been arrested for allegedly extorting money from residents of the area who either bought new houses or even renovated their homes. The accused, identified as Iman Bose , was arrested by the Sinthee police late on Tuesday following a complaint lodged by Dilip Ghosh , a resident of south Sinthee.

According to the complainant, Bose sent his men across from the time he had started redeveloping his residence. “The accused got a woman to enter the residence for a day through fraudulent means and then, claimed she was a tenant at my house. Bose, a prominent face of the Yuva Trinamool Congress in the Sinthee and Dum Dum areas, then demanded that Rs 10 lakh-Rs 12 lakh be paid as settlement,” Ghosh told police. The police said when Ghosh refused to pay, he was threatened. Based on Ghosh’s complaint, a case of cheating, forgery and extortion was registered against Bose.

“We arrested Bose and produced him at the Sealdah court on Wednesday. We will question him on his modus operandi. We are also ascertaining if the accused had been threatening others as well as residents of the area claimed some of them had been threatened to pay even Rs 1.3 crore,” said the police. The cops said they would follow the law and would not be “influenced” by Bose’s political clout.

Last month, construction work at a dilapidated building in Bowbazar was stopped after a local councillor’s husband allegedly demanded money from the property owners. The issue was resolved after the owners wrote to chief minister Mamata Banerjee , narrating their plight.

