Syndicate member held in New Town

KOLKATA: A syndicate member at Baligori in New Town, Bahar Ali Laskar, was arrested by the Bidhannagar police on Sunday afternoon for allegedly extorting money from a construction conglomerate. Laskar, who is known to be allegedly close to a local MLA, was arrested from Laskarhati area.
As the news of his arrest spread, a group of people from the area converged on the New Town police station in the afternoon and staged a demonstration but the cops chased them away.
Laskar, who was earlier known to be a muscleman allegedly close to the CPM, changed his camp to the Trinamool in 2013. His name first surfaced in 2014 when he was accused of institgating syndicate members in the fledgling township to attack the TCS office. The same year, a Trinamool party office was burnt down following a clash between two rival factions of the party, owing their allegiance to a local MLA and an MP; Laskar was one of the faction members. He also allegedly controls the extortion racket at Laskarhati.
In another case, two local CPM leaders, Abhijit Ghosh and Madan Goldar, were arrested by the New Town police for allegedly trying to incite violence during the 2014 LS elections.