As the turning of the tide in Bengal is also reflected on its streets, several TMC leaders, including local heavyweights and musclemen, and their associates have been trotted in public through their areas of influence by police or paramilitary forces – many in just their underclothes, and wearing handcuffs or a rope around their waist as a sort of leash. Viral videos of the parading include the arrested leaders holding their ears, doing squats and publicly apologising.
After one such public parading, a vacation bench of the Calcutta High Court pulled up the state BJP government, seeking a report on the rules and circumstances behind the incidents. Individuals could be arrested and prosecuted, but not deliberately defamed or humiliated, the court said.
Police defend their actions as purely “investigative”, meant for “reconstruction of crime scenes”. Off-record, officials say they also want to break the aura of invincibility around some of the accused.
A senior IPS officer warned that police were treading a thin line. “Except in some cases where charges are very serious like terrorism, or there is a threat that an accused may abscond, even handcuffing is not done. As for tying a rope around the waist and parading an accused, it has no basis in law.”
DG, Law and Order, Ajay Mukund Ranade didn’t repond to calls or messages.
TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee said the party is planning to file a case against the police actions. “It is a total violation of Article 21 and a breach of human rights,” he told The Indian Express.
Akash Singh
On May 13, four days after the BJP government was sworn in, Akash Singh was arrested by the Golabari thana police in Howrah and escorted through the area dressed in a vest and underwear, with his head shaved.
Akash, who enjoyed a reputation as the ‘Don of North Howrah’, is accused in nearly 20 cases, including firing on police, leaving a sub-inspector injured, and bombing during the 2021 elections, as well as extortion and attempted murder.
An official said that despite the number of cases against him, they could never take action against Singh due to his proximity to MLA Gautam Choudhury. Police, including Golabari thana in-charge, refused to share details of the cases or why no action was taken against Singh earlier.
Asked about his ties to Singh, Choudhury said he didn’t want to talk about it. He cut the call, adding: “Akash wasn’t close to me.”
A senior Howrah district officer said they are investigating Singh as part of instructions to “revisit pending cases linked to strongmen”. About the parading, a top officer of the Howrah Police Commissionerate said police officials were taking Singh to several “crime scenes”. “It is part of the reconstruction of crimes.”
At a public meeting recently, BJP Howrah Uttar MLA Umesh Rai referred to Singh’s arrest, adding: “There was a time when he would roam the streets with a convoy of a hundred bikes, intimidating people. Today, that same man is being paraded with a rope around his waist. This is what true Ram Rajya looks like.”
Abhijit Roy
A local TMC youth leader of Kanchrapara in North 24 Parganas, Roy was arrested on May 28. Huge crowds witnessed and raised slogans as he was paraded by police with a rope tied around his waist.
A police official said Roy has a case of extortion against him lodged at the Bijpur Police Station, and also faces charges of unauthorised stockpiling and resale of materials, including “plastic buckets meant for municipal sanitation workers”. Locals talk of the influence he wielded in civic and administrative matters, including deciding beneficiaries of government projects, allocation of contracts, and distribution of housing units, under the TMC government.
Having gone into hiding after the BJP came to power, Roy was arrested from Mandarmani in East Midnapore.
While police are tightlipped on any action against him in the past, local TMC leaders could not be reached, including Barrackpore MP and local leader Partha Bhowmick, who is now in the rebel camp.
Jahangir Khan
Well-known in Falta, Diamond Harbour, particularly for his proximity to TMC No. 2 Abhishek Banerjee, Khan came to national limelight when he had a public showdown with a police officer during the Assembly elections. As a riposte to the officer, Khan, the TMC’s Falta candidate, likened himself to the character Pushpa – “who never bent before anyone” – from the blockbuster film by the same name.
Falta was the only Assembly seat to see a repoll. By the time the election was held, the ground had shifted in Bengal and Khan left the TMC stunned by withdrawing from the race. In the TMC split that followed, many blamed the party’s treatment of Khan with kid gloves as one reason for their disenchantment with the leadership.
Later, Khan went “missing”, and was finally arrested from the India-Nepal border by a Special Task Force on June 8.
Charged initially with robbery and in an attempt-to-murder case, Khan has since been slapped with multiple extortion and criminal charges.
A police official said that among the cases against Khan is one of looting a businessman’s home and beating him up, “causing serious injuries”, leading to attempt-to-murder charges. “There are 10-12 other complaints / cases pending against him.”
In his poll affidavit, Khan declared that there were no criminal cases against him.
Since his arrest, police have paraded Khan three separate times through Falta, in one of which he was caught on video holding his ears and apologising to the public.
Police said the parading was part of reconstruction of the crime scenes – and that Khan held his ears, did squats and apologised of his own volition.
During a visit to Falta Wednesday, Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari said: “The rule of law has been established in Falta… No matter how big a mafia or don, the state government will teach them a lesson.”
Guddu Ansari
A powerful local leader of Kamarhati in North 24 Parganas, known to be very close to senior TMC leader and Kamarhati MLA Madan Mitra (among those still sticking by Mamata Banerjee), Ansari was arrested on May 31. He was later paraded through Kamarhati in handcuffs.
Ansari is accused of running several syndicates, across businesses, and known to brandish arms to threaten people into submission. A Belgharia police official said his parading would “send a stern warning to criminals”.
Another official said: “Ansari was arrested for extortion but there are multiple allegations against him. We are also looking into allegations that he encroached on government land and rented it out, and ran a racket at Kamarhati Sagar Dutta Medical College and Hospital, besides charges of land grabbing, physical assault, and issuing threats.”
Madan Mitra could not be reached for comment.
Shamim Ahmed
Also known as Borey, Gabbar, and considered close to a former TMC minister, Ahmed is president of Ward No. 36, Shibpur; his wife Shamima Banu was earlier a councillor in the same ward.
Arrested on May 21 from Chembur in Mumbai, the TMC leader was paraded by police in Sankrail, South Howrah, through a crowded market with a rope around his waist. Police allege Ahmed’s hand in the attack on a BJP post-result rally on May 7 led by its Howrah Minority Cell president Shikandar Khan, which left three people injured.
A police official said: “Ahmed owns properties worth crores, including offices. There are other allegations too against him, including extortion and intimidation.” One of the videos of him being paraded featured police leading him into a building that seemed dilapidated from the outside, but had a luxurious flat inside.
Ahmed has been arrested twice earlier. In 2024, he was held by the NIA over a case of violence during Ram Navami, but got bail. In 2018, he was arrested after two groups clashed in Shibpur.
Ahmed has approached the human rights commission for action against police, sources said.
Shahin Molla
A traffic home guard who was known to enjoy immense clout in South Howrah due to proximity to a former TMC minister, Shahin Molla alias Sunny was arrested by Sankrail police on May 23 on charges of extortion of crores of rupees.
Later, the Central forces and Sankrail police took him on foot through the Chaura Basti area in Central Howrah, with a rope tied around his waist.
This was done for “purposes of investigation”, police said.
Advocate Sabyasachi Chatterjee, who represented petitioner Umar Faruk Gazi in the High Court, leading to the court seeking a reply from the state government on the parading of leaders, said: “The Supreme Court has said handcuffing, chaining a person violates the dignity of an accused. Even in cases of terrorists, the Court said you can’t do it. The only test is if a person can abscond.”
(From left) TMC leader Jahangir Khan; Shahin Molla, who is linked to a former TMC minister, has been accused of extortion; and Akash Singh, who is said to be close to a TMC MLA, being paraded. (Express Photo) 
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