Stand-off between Kolkata, UP police teams during raid in fraud case

Kolkata, Sep 17 (PTI) A stand-off between police officers of Uttar Pradesh and Kolkata unfolded on Wednesday during a raid at a flat in Kolkata in connection with a fraud case in which a former Trinamool Congress leader and his son have been arrested.

The matter was resolved following the intervention of a court here.

The police in Noida arrested ex-TMC leader Bibhas Adhikari and his son last month for allegedly running a fake police station in Kolkata and defrauding people, an officer said.

A team of Noida Police came to the city to search a flat from where the fake police station was operated. The flat is in a building located directly opposite Beliaghata Police Station.

Police teams from Noida and Beliaghata on Wednesday went to search the flat, which was locked from outside, he said.

“While Beliaghata Police claimed they did not have the key, Noida Police insisted it was with the local station. When Noida officers decided to break the lock, a disagreement broke out between the two sides, leading to a tense situation," the officer said.

Noida Police moved the Sealdah Court seeking permission to search the flat by breaking the lock.

The court, however, clarified that such permission was not within its jurisdiction.

The judge also said that if there is a search warrant, police have the authority to carry out a search, the officer added.

The court advised that if the local police have objections to break the lock, the Noida Police could seek specific permission from the appropriate court to do so.

Later, the officers of Noida Police broke open the lock and entered the flat before conducting the search there.

Adhikary and his son were arrested in Noida for allegedly running a bogus "International Police & Crime Investigation Bureau" there and extorting money, posing as government officials.

He had rented two flats on the CIT Road in Kolkata's Beliaghata area and was allegedly operating an office with display boards "Interpol", "Investigation of Social Justice", and "Police".

Adhikary, a TMC block president from Nalhati in Birbhum district, was also an accused in the teachers' recruitment scam and has been under the scanner of central investigating agencies. He was expelled from the party in 2021.

The CBI had questioned Adhikary, considered to be close to jailed former West Bengal education minister Partha Chatterjee, multiple times in 2023 in connection with the recruitment case.

Adhikary allegedly owned a substantial number of assets, which included residences in New Delhi and Kolkata, as well as two colleges in Suri and Krishnagar in Birbhum and Hooghly districts, respectively. PTI SCH NN