Police in West Bengal have arrested Kartik Bag, the pradhan of Rayan-1 gram panchayat in Bardhaman district, on serious charges of keeping illegal weapons, extorting money from residents and threatening ordinary people in the area. The Bardhaman police station has asked a local court for 7 days of police custody so officers can question him further. News of the arrest has set off a wave of political and social unrest in the Rayan area, with administrative and law enforcement circles also visibly rattled by the fact that such grave allegations have been levelled against an elected local representative who was supposed to serve the very residents he is now accused of terrorising.
A Trail of Complaints and a Tip About an Illegal Weapon
According to police, complaints against Kartik Bag had been piling up for some time before his arrest. Residents had been alleging that he was using his position as panchayat pradhan to extort money and was threatening anyone who dared to push back. Around the same time, police also received a tip that Bag was in possession of an illegal firearm. Taking these complaints seriously, the Bardhaman police station acted on confidential intelligence, launched an operation and arrested the panchayat chief. A case has since been registered against him under the relevant sections of law.
Police Hunt for Other Faces in the Alleged Network
Police sources say the central goal of the investigation now is to identify who else, besides Bag, may be part of the alleged extortion network, and to trace exactly where and through whom the illegal weapon reached him. It is precisely to answer these two questions that police have sought court permission to detain and question Kartik Bag directly. Officers believe that custodial interrogation will make it easier to reach any remaining members of the network and whoever supplied the weapon, since extortion rackets of this kind rarely stay confined to a single person and typically extend into a wider network of accomplices and suppliers.
Kartik Bag Says He Has Been Framed
Speaking to reporters during his court appearance, Kartik Bag flatly denied every allegation against him. He described himself as completely innocent and claimed he was being framed as part of a deliberate conspiracy. "I have not committed any crime. A false case has been built against me," Bag said. For now, the Bardhaman police station is continuing to dig into the full case, and further facts are expected to emerge only once questioning and investigation are complete.
Separate Poster Row Over an Alleged Fake Lawyer
Separately, a different controversy erupted on Saturday morning inside the Bardhaman district court complex. Posters put up against an alleged "fake lawyer" triggered considerable uproar among lawyers and administrative circles at the premises. The allegations concern a person identified as Nilay Chongdar, who had reportedly been practising as a lawyer at the Bardhaman court for a long time. Two separate posters suddenly appeared behind the vehicle and cycle stand of the court complex that morning, accusing Chongdar of practising law without ever clearing the required law examination. The posters also questioned under whose protection he had been allowed to operate for years without holding valid bar membership. As soon as the matter came to light, it caused a stir among lawyers, and the bar association promptly launched an inquiry into the claims.
