Congress approaches governor over Adhir Ranjan's impending arrest

Accusing the ruling Trinamool Congress of conspiring to get Minister of State for Railways Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury arrested, the Congress Wednesday met West Bengal governor M.K. Narayanan seeking his intervention.

"Led by Adhir, the Congress has performed very well in the last few elections in Murshidabad. That is why the Trinamool is conspiring against him, to get him arrested. We have apprised the governor about this and he assured us he would give full attention to the matter," state Congress president Pradip Bhattacharya said.

A non-bailable arrest warrant was issued Sep 27 against Chowdhury -- a parliamentarian from Baharampur -- for alleged conspiracy in the murder of Trinamool worker Kamal Sheikh in Murshidabad, in 2011.

The warrant was issued after the police submitted a charge-sheet accusing Chowdhury and eight others under Sections 307 (attempt to murder), 302 (murder) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code, as also under the Arms Act and the Explosive Substances Act.

The Congress, which Wednesday held a protest rally in the city, has given a "Baharampur Chalo" call for Oct 27.

Chowdhury, who has been declared "absconding" by the police, has accused the Mamata Banerjee-led West Bengal government of falsely implicating him.