Daijiworld Media Network - Kolkata
Kolkata, Sep 26: Trinamool Congress leader and former Hooghly Zilla Parishad member Tumpa Mete was arrested by police on Saturday on charges of cheating people in the name of providing jobs, hours before party chief Mamata Banerjee’s public meeting in Hooghly district.
Mete was arrested by personnel of Dankuni police station. A district police officer said she was a former Trinamool member of the Hooghly Zilla Parishad and that her name had also allegedly figured in the list of ineligible candidates in the West Bengal school jobs case.
Mete, however, denied the allegations and claimed that her arrest was politically motivated.
"My arrest just before our leader’s public meeting was a result of political vengeance which is a common affair these days in any corner of the state. All the allegations that I have been framed with are baseless," she told media persons after her arrest.
Mete is expected to be produced before a district court in Serampore later on Saturday, where the Public Prosecutor is likely to seek her police custody.
According to the allegations, Mete had secured a school job by submitting a white paper. Her name was included in the 2016 SSC panel that was subsequently cancelled by the Supreme Court over allegations of corruption. She is currently employed as a non-teaching staff member at a state-run school.
Meanwhile, Mamata Banerjee is scheduled to address a public meeting at the Serampore Court Maidan later on Saturday. The Calcutta High Court had permitted the meeting after police initially denied permission. The court allowed the gathering with a maximum of 1,000 participants and imposed conditions relating to the timing, security and maintenance of law and order.
Preparations for the meeting have been underway at the venue for the past two days, with a stage erected despite heavy rain.
Former Trinamool legislator and Hooghly district TMC convener Asit Majumdar said preparations were continuing despite the adverse weather.
"The meeting will start exactly at 4 p.m. We had to prepare for the meeting under very adverse conditions. The police did not give any permission first. We are doing things as per the Calcutta High Court's orders. We have faith in the judiciary," Majumdar said.
He said the court had permitted the party to gather 1,000 workers and that the organisers would comply with the order.
"Now if people come to see our leader, that is a different matter," he added.
The Calcutta High Court’s order permits the Serampore meeting subject to a cap of 1,000 participants and other conditions, including restrictions on any post-meeting rally or procession and measures to ensure traffic movement on the nearby Grand Trunk Road is not disrupted.