Trinamool’s Egra Municipality Chairman arrested on corruption charges

Kolkata, Jan 3 (IANS) The Trinamool Congress Municipal Chairman of Egra Municipality in East Midnapore district has been arrested on charges of corruption, said the police on Saturday.

A senior officer in East Midnapore district police said that Swapan Kumar Nayak, the chairman of Egra Municipality, was arrested in Kolkata on Friday on charges of illegally leasing government land and financial corruption.

East Midnapore’s acting Superintendent of Police, Mithun Kumar Dey, said that the arrested Egra municipal chairman will be produced in court on Saturday. ​​

It is worth mentioning that a few days ago, some Trinamool Congress councillors brought a no-confidence motion against the Egra Municipality chairman, Swapan Nayak. This arrest has now caused a stir in political circles, as the Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, hails from East Midnapore district.

According to the police, on December 20, the Block Land Reforms Officer (BLRO) of Egra-I block filed a written complaint.

The complaint said that land belonging to ‘Khatian 1’ (government-owned land) was transferred without any proper government approval and through an unregistered document.

The investigation revealed that this illegal process resulted in a significant loss of government revenue.

Following the investigation into this case, police arrested Nayak.

The acting Superintendent of Police, Mithun Kumar Dey, said, “The BLRO of Egra-I filed a complaint on December 20. He illegally leased government land, resulting in a loss of government revenue. Based on that complaint, the chairman of Egra Municipality has been arrested. He will be produced in court on Saturday, and we will request his police custody.”

The officers are investigating who else is involved in this incident.

Incidentally, a few days ago, the Trinamool leadership had instructed Swapan Nayak to resign from the chairman’s post.

He defied the party’s directive and continued to hold the position. Following this, six Trinamool councillors brought a no-confidence motion against him.

A vote was scheduled for December 20. However, at 4.30 a.m. that day, Trinamool councillors protested against the chairman’s entry into the municipality building.

They alleged that the chairman had entered the building so early in the morning to tamper with important files. They filed a complaint at the Egra police station, and the voting was then postponed.

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