Lakshman Seth held from Mumbai after a fortnight on the run

After former CPM minister Sushanta Ghosh,he is the second big leader of the party to be held in a criminal case since the Trinamool Congress assumed power.

In January this year,the CID had filed a chargesheet against Seth and 87 others in connection with the violence in Nandigram on November 27,2007,when CPM goons had tried to wrest control of the area. Seth and his associates were booked under Sections 302 and 120 (B) of the IPC.

In a report to the Calcutta High Court,the CID had said six people had been abducted by CPM goons,killed and their bodies dumped in a river near Nandigram.

Confirming the arrests in Mumbai,K Jayraman,DIG,CID (Operations),West Bengal,said: “Lakshman Seth,Amiya Sahoo and Ashok Guria have been arrested.”

An associate of Seth’s wife Tamalika Ponda,also a CPM leader,said she was holding a meeting with senior party leaders. Kanu Saha,district committee secretary of the CPM in East Midnapore,condemned the arrest. “Lakshman has been framed. We will take legal action,” he said.

Apart from Nandigram,Seth’s role as chairman of the Haldia Development authority (HDA) and his decision to float an NGO are also under a cloud. The NGO concerned had got land from the HDA almost for free,and Seth had set up a medical college and a dental college on it (the medical college was only one of two private medical colleges in the state). The party was unhappy with the move as both the colleges charged capitation fees,which is against the CPM’s principles,but Seth had ignored instructions to end his association with them.

Hours after the Trinamool Congress government came to power in May 2011,the Medical Council of India had scrapped recognition to the medical college. At the time,the college had 88 students,each of whom is believed to have paid Rs 4.5 lakh for admission.

While Seth escaped party rap for a long time because of his control over trade unions,in February this year,he was removed as state committee member of the party reportedly at the behest of Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee.