Judge orders action on Bengal policeman for accused's double arrest

West Bengal's Mamata Banerjee regime, which has on several occasions faced a rap from the courts, Friday was yet again at the receiving end of judicial ire, as a judge ordered removal of a police officer for showing the arrest of an accused twice before him.

Already facing the wrath of the opposition over the violence in Makhra and Chaumondolpur villages of Birbhum district, the Trinamool government was left red in the face as the Suri Chief Judicial Magistrate Indranil Chatterjee ordered departmental proceedings against the officer-in-charge of Parui police station K.M. Ghosh for showing the arrest of Ali Jinnah twice.

The magistrate also ordered that the police officer who has on record arrested one accused twice be suspended.

Ali Jinnah, allegedly involved in the Makhra violence, was nabbed Oct 24. He was produced before court for the second time Oct 30 as a fresh arrest case.

Assistant public prosecutor Kuntal Chattopadhyay said the police officerA had apologised in court for the faux pas.

"A police officer in Parui police station committed a mistake. Police have admitted their mistake and sought apology. The judge has ordered a departmental inquiry into the role played by the OC in the case," Chattopadhyay said.

The violence at Makhra left three dead Monday.

The legal woes of the Banerjee government have been continuing since long.

In a telling blow to the ruling Trinamool Congress, the Calcutta High Court, in two different cases has ordered CID and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probes respectively against two its prominent leaders infamous for making hate speeches.

While Birbhum district Trinamool president Anubrata Mondal, who gained notoriety for his hate speeches is facing a probe by the CBI, Lok Sabha member Tapas Paul is under the scanner for threatening to kill and rape rival political activists.

Earlier, the Trinamool's ambitious legislation to return land to farmers from whom it was forcibly acquired for an industrial unit in Hooghly district, was declared "unconstitutional and void". The court also struck down another law that allowed levying a one percent tax on the entry of certain goods into the state.

The state government suffered a similar fate in several other legal battles including its futile attempt to prevent a CBI probe into the Saradha scam which was eventually ordered by the apex court.