Head shaved, hands cuffed: Bengal cops parade arrested TMC goons in undergarments

An image is worth a thousand words, and the police in West Bengal are putting the saying into action. In the last few days, videos of police personnel walking at least three arrested local strongmen, reportedly linked to the Trinamool Congress (TMC), through the streets in undergarments have gone viral on social media. The three arrested are reportedly from Bengal's Howrah district.

In one of the videos, an accused is seen being marched through the streets in his undergarments. In another clip, a local TMC ward functionary is seen being walked in handcuffs, policemen in tow. In another such video, a former home guard with a rope tied around his waist was also paraded through the streets.

The Police said one of the accused was taken on the walk to help investigators verify structural evidence, revisit crime scenes and trace the workings of his alleged tolabaji (local extortion) network.

India Today Digital contacted four police stations linked to the parading of the three arrested criminals, but the respective officers in charge declined to comment.

The TMC has criticised the parades as a violation of the basic principles of the law and human rights and likened the exercise to those of a circus trope.

The parading of criminals comes as the Suvendu Adhikari-led BJP government in West Bengal has kicked off a state-wide crackdown against TMC party leaders and workers involved in crimes like extortion, corruption, and post-poll violence linked to the 2021 West Bengal Assembly elections.

With criminals functioning under political patronage in Bengal, the police faced the brunt. Police personnel faced several attacks from goons without getting the freedom to retaliate with force. The BJP government seems to have changed that.

DON AKASH SINGH ESCORTED BY POLICE IN HOWRAH, FACES 20 CRIMINAL CASES

In North Howrah, teams from the Golabari and Malipanchghara police stations on Sunday escorted Akash Singh through local neighbourhoods as part of a formal crime scene reconstruction, the police said. He is also known as 'Don' Akash Singh in northern Howrah.

Singh, who was arrested on May 14, faces over 20 criminal cases, including a 2021 incident in which he allegedly fired at police personnel and hurled explosives in Liluah. During the "crime scene reconstruction exercise", the accused was led in handcuffs, wearing only a sleeveless vest and boxer shorts, with his head and face completely shaven.

Police sources stated that Singh had requested his hair and beard be shaved due to the intense summer heat. Investigators used the walk to verify structural evidence, revisit past crime scenes, and map out the operations of his alleged local extortion network.

According to a report in The Times of India, Singh was known to be a close aide of former Howrah MLA Goutam Chowdhury. He was wanted in nearly two dozen cases registered across Howrah City Police stations, primarily Golabari and Malipanchghara.

Officers from the Detective Department of the Howrah City Police tracked him down and arrested him from Kolaghat in East Midnapore.

Footage of Singh's public walk was shared widely on X by the official account of the West Bengal BJP, which claimed the action reflected a "zero-tolerance" policy on crime under the state's new political leadership.

India Today Digital reached out to officers in charge of Golabari and Malipanchghara police stations, but they kept tossing the ball to one another, providing no further information.

WARD PRESIDENT OF TMC PARADED IN VEST IN HOWRAH

In a separate operation, a team from the Shibpur Police, along with central paramilitary forces, paraded local TMC Ward 36 president Shamim Ahmed, alias "Bade" or "Gabbar" in a white vest through the GT Road and the Shibpur tram depot area. In the video, Ahmed was seen in handcuffs.

According to some reports, Ahmed is a close associate of TMC MLA and former minister, Arup Roy.

Ahmed was arrested by the Mumbai Police Crime Branch in Chembur on May 21 after a multi-state manhunt.

He is the primary accused in a May 7 post-poll violence case involving a bomb and gun attack on a BJP minority wing procession in Chaurabasti, which left three people injured. After being brought back to West Bengal on transit remand, a Howrah court remanded him to eight days of police custody.

According to a report by the Kolkata-based Bangla newspaper, Anandabazar Patrika, Ahmed has also been accused of using his political influence to carry out illegal construction, extortion, and hooliganism in the area.

Searches conducted at his residence revealed a five-storey building with luxurious interiors, a hidden staircase, a rooftop gambling den, and even 140 goats that Ahmed has allegedly reared on the roof of a residential building, reported PTI.

ROPE TIED TO WAIST, SAHIN MOLLA, CHARGED WITH EXTORTION, PARADED IN HOWRAH

Further south in Howrah district, the police in Sankrail, in a joint operation with central paramilitary forces, paraded Sahin Molla alias "Sunny" through his locality in the Beltala area with a rope tied around his waist. Molla was seen dressed in a white waist and white shorts, according to a video that went viral.

Molla, a former temporary Home Guard, was arrested on May 23 on charges of extorting local shopkeepers.

He had earlier been dismissed from his post as a temporary traffic Home Guard on similar extortion charges. According to the report by news agency PTI, local residents alleged that he used his political proximity to the TMC to establish dominance in the area.

Following a Howrah court order granting police four days of custody, Molla was made to walk from Beltola to Sankrail by a joint team of local police and central forces. During the procession, he verbally denied the extortion allegations to onlookers.

TMC ALLEGES VIOLATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS, LAW

TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee criticised the parades as a violation of the basic principles of the law and human rights and likened the exercise to those of a circus trope.

"The duty of a government can never be to run a circus. Nor is it the responsibility of the state to provide spectacles for public entertainment. A government's foremost obligation is to function in accordance with the Constitution and the rule of law. When excessive and unchecked power is handed over to the police administration, it often awakens the deepest forms of brutality within institutions. A sense of savage triumph begins to replace justice, and unfortunately, such displays also amuse and satisfy a section of society. But none of this brings honour to the Constitution," Kalyan Banerjee posted on X on Tuesday.

"I do not support or justify the crimes of any offender. However, even a hardened criminal cannot be paraded through a marketplace with ropes tied around them. Such acts may satisfy the cruel excitement of some people and validate institutional excesses, but they are a clear violation of both the law and the basic principles of human rights. If a government begins to behave like a circus troupe rather than a constitutional authority, the people of West Bengal may face grave suffering in the days to come," Banerjee added.

STATE-WIDE CRIME CRACKDOWN IN WEST BENGAL

The public parading of the underwear-clad TMC-linked members by the police in Howrah is part of a wider, statewide law-and-order crackdown initiated by the Suvendu Adhikari-led West Bengal government. The drive has triggered a wave of arrests targeting TMC workers and leaders across the state.

The highest-ranking leader arrested so far is former minister Sujit Bose. He was, however, taken into custody by the Enforcement Directorate, not the state police.

On May 22, Durgapur-Faridpur, the police arrested TMC labour union leader Sheikh Wasul for fraud and allegedly terrorising locals after a late-night raid in Laudoha. Between May 18 and 20, several TMC functionaries and local representatives were arrested on extortion charges in different parts of the state.

In Kolkata, KMC councillor Sudip Polley was arrested for alleged extortion. As he was being led out to Thakarpukur police station on Sunday, May 24, he was immediately mobbed by a vengeful crowd who levelled slogans of "chor-chor" ("thief-thief") against him.

In Krishnanagar, panchayat functionary Sarajit Biswas was picked up for extorting money from factories and workers. In Hooghly district, Rajdeep De, pradhan of Kamarpukur panchayat, was arrested from Tarakeswar on similar charges.

The administration in West Bengal is also carrying out a major enforcement drive across the state. And the police might be trying to send out a strong message through visuals, even as the Trinamool Congress raises the issue of legality and morality.