Nemesis caught up with the hitherto ‘‘absconding’’ CPI(M) Minister of State for Cottage and Small Scale Industries, Narayan Biswas, this evening at the district court in Balurghat — 16 long years after an arrest warrant was issued against him. Shortly before dusk, after the Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM), Balurghat, Anjali Sinha, refused him bail and remanded him to judicial custody, Biswas was taken away to the Balurghat district jail. Biswas had surrendered at the court of the CJM in Balurghat at 10:50 a.m. Four cases had been registered against the minister, who had submitted his resignation just two days ago. After surrendering, he had told a huge gathering of CPI(M) supporters and activists: ‘‘The law will take its course. On a legal plane, we will continue our contest legally. On a political plane we will carry out our fight politically’’. Biswas was remanded in judicial custody till November 16 in the controversial Ratanpur case, GR No. 236 He had allegedly led an armed mob of 89 men and set fire to the houses of 22 Congress activists and supporters on March 27, 1988, in the village of Ratanpur under the Gangarampur police station. In another case — GR No. 1518/80, he was remanded to judicial custody till November 7. On March 28, 1988, an FIR against the 89 accused, including Biswas, who was then deputy chairman of the Dinajpur Zila Parishad, had been registered at the Gangarampur police station. On March 31, 1988, Biswas appealed for anticipatory bail, but the application was rejected. Subsequently, on June 16, 1989, an arrest warrant was issued against him. The chargesheet was filed on October 16, 1989. Since then, Biswas had been registered as absconding in the books of the police. He did, however, rise within the party from deputy chairman to a minister in the state’s sixth Left Front (LF) government. In two other cases against him — GR Nos. 100/86 and 92/86, lodged at the Gangarampur police station, though Biswas was mentioned as one of the accused, his name did not figure anywhere on the chargesheets. The court directed the Gangarampur police to locate the papers and file them anew with the court. According to insiders in the CPI(M), with Biswas being remanded to JC, he may not be granted a ticket to contest the forthcoming Assembly polls in 2006. Earlier, the CPI(M) State Secretary Anil Biswas had said that it was the party’s policy not to allow a convicted man to contest elections on a CPI(M) ticket. Meanwhile, the secretary of the South Dinajpur District Committee of the CPI(M), Minati Ghosh, said: ‘‘This is a conspiracy by the Congress, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and a section of the media. Our movement will continue outside the court’’.
