Trinamool embroiled in extortion leading to killing of their own man

A recent daylight murder of a Trinamool Congress (TC) worker in Rajarhat in North 24 Parganas has brought to light the ongoing battle within the ruling party for the control of the area. The area adjacent to Kolkata and its two satellite townships, Salt Lake and Rajarhat Newtown, is now the hunting ground for the land sharks and realtors.

The police have arrested two known criminals and one TC youth leader in connection with the murder. The name of Purnendu Basu, a minister in Mamata Banerjee’s government and an MLA from Rajarhat, has cropped up as one who is closely associated with the people involved in the criminal activities including the murder.

On Sunday last, Swapan Mondal, a promoter of the area was killed in front of his local party office. Some miscreants shot him from close range and then fled in motorcycles.

Immediate after that when the TC leaders including central minister Saugata Ray went there, the local TC activists and supporters expressed anger against their party men and highlighted the ongoing tussle among them. After preliminary investigation, the police arrested two known criminals Tulko and Radhakanta on Wednesday and later on Thursday night arrested Partha Sarkar. Till recently Partha was the youth leader of TC in Rajarhat.

According to police the root cause of the growing crime rate and the recent murder has to do with the ‘syndicates’ and the tussle over the control of them. Earlier during the Left Front government’s tenure, when Rajarhat New Town project was taken up, the then housing minister Goutam Deb bought peace with a section of the local people by encouraging them to form “syndicates” and allowing them to do business of supplying building materials to the builders in New Town.

With active encouragement from Goutam Deb and the local CPI (M) leaders, the syndicates became a law unto themselves. The builders were forced to buy cement, steel, sand, brick, stone chips and other building materials from the syndicates.

Though the syndicates compromised on both quality and quantity of those materials supplied to the builders, the administration turned a blind eye to that. The arrangement also suited the ruling party as they were also made a beneficiary. After the change of regime the arrangement continues with new alignment.

According to Nikhil, a TC activist in Rajarhat who has been one of those old-timers, Purnendu Basu started co-opting some of the notorious people who were earlier associated with CPI (M) and active members of the syndicates. Dola Sen, a close associate of Purnendu Basu and now state president of TC’s trade union front, is allegedly the kingpin who now controls the syndicates.

During the last six months the extortion of huge sums from the traders, realtors and small and medium industries have increased exponentially. Only the other say a minister was complaining that his party men were not sparing Texmaco authorities.

Rajarhat is adjacent to Rajarhat New Town where hundreds of new buildings are coming up, that has become a major area for the extortionists and as a direct fall out of that inter group rivalry within TC has grown proportionately. In a tacit admission of this unhealthy development, the chief minister Mamata Banerjee has assured the business community that if she receives any such complaint from them she would take measures. The industry minister Partha Chatterjee has to face similar complaints from the trade and commerce when he goes to the districts.

Now after the killing of Swapan Modal, the party has come forward to warn its workers that any association with the syndicates would attract immediate expulsion from the party. But there is no indication that the local leaders would pay any heed to that.

The CPI (M) has witnessed internecine battle among their leaders over the control of the syndicates, land and realtor related business, which often used to turn violent.

After the electoral debacle of the Left in the state, the victorious TC has now acquired those “business” and inherited the legacy of turf war. Swapan Modal’s murder is only the tip of the iceberg.