Pro-Bengali group activist arrested for ‘rigged EVM’ posts: Kolkata Police

Kolkata police on Tuesday arrested Garga Chatterjee, the leader of Bangla Paksha, a pro-Bengali activists’ group for uploading social media posts during the recent two-phase assembly polls alleging that the electronic voting machines (EVMs) were rigged, officers said.

“Chatterjee was arrested under several sections of the Information Technology Act. He alleged that EVMs had been tampered with and asked various political groups to launch an agitation. The complaint against him was lodged by the election observer of the Kolkata north division,” Kolkata police commissioner Ajay Nand said.

“Chatterjee was arrested because he did not respond to two notices sent earlier by police,” Nand added.

Nand said that the state’s Diamond Harbour police deployed a policeman for Chatterjee’s security.

Chatterjee, a Harvard University alumnus, is an assistant professor at the Psychology Research Unit of Kolkata’s Indian Statistical Institute (ISI).

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The ISI authorities did not comment on his arrest. However, on condition of anonymity, a senior colleague told HT that he was “deeply involved in the movement”.

“Many of us were shocked to see Bangla Paksha activists assaulting people from Bihar and other states in public,” he said.

While Bangla Paksha is widely seen as a pro-Trinamool Congress (TMC) group, the state police registered a case against it when Mamata Banerjee was chief minister.

In September 2024, Siliguri city police arrested two Bangla Paksha members for allegedly heckling two Bihar residents who came to the north Bengal headquarters of Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) for physical tests for constable recruitment.

The Bangla Paksha members accused the young men of using fake West Bengal domiciliary certificates to secure appointments.

A video of the incident went viral in Bihar and parts of north Bengal, sparking a row.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and Union minister Giriraj Singh and Bihar’s Lok Janshakti Party leader and Union minister Chirag Paswan demanded action on their social media posts