TMC Councillor Susanta Ghosh arrested from Puri on extortion charges

Trinamool Congress (TMC) councillor Susanta Ghosh was finally arrested by the Kolkata Police from Puri on Wednesday days after he managed to give the police a slip at the Bengal-Odisha border.

The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) councillor from 108 ward who faces charges of extortion was held by cops from the Anandapur police station.

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Earlier on Friday, Ghosh’s driver was arrested from Odisha while the TMC councillor and his family managed to flee from the spot.

Reports indicate that Ghosh and his associates had extorted a total of Rs 3 crore from hawkers and traders from the Anandapur area in Kolkata. This prompted more than 130 members of a hawkers’ committee to lodge a complaint against him at the Anandapur police station.

The complaint stated that Ghosh and his aides had extorted money from traders in lieu of building shops for them near Ruby Hospital. While shops were indeed built, traders were told that a group would be deciding on their allocation. On top of this, traders were allegedly asked to pay to secure their allotments as per the size and location of these shops.