AJUP Chief Humayun Kabir Arrested 'West Bengal Bypolls'

West Bengal's bypolls began on a tense note on Tuesday, with a police confrontation leading to the arrest of AJUP chief and MLA Humayun Kabir in Rejinagar and allegations of voter intimidation and polling irregularities surfacing in Nandigram, putting the spotlight on law and order in the two politically sensitive constituencies.

Kabir, founder of the Aam Janata Unnayan Party (AJUP), was arrested after a heated exchange with police personnel at his party office in Rejinagar in Murshidabad, hours after accusing the force of acting at the behest of Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari and urging residents to resist alleged



police excesses with mugurs (heavy wooden clubs).

The confrontation, which saw police personnel pull Kabir by his shirt and escort him into a vehicle, brought the spotlight on Rejinagar even as his son, Golam Nabi Azad, contested the seat on the AJUP ticket. 

"The MLA of Nowda (Kabir) has been arrested. Law is equal for everyone, and nobody should try to violate it," Adhikari said after casting his vote in Nandigram. Murshidabad SP Sachin Makkar said Kabir was neither a candidate in the bypoll nor an authorised election agent and could not move around in the manner he had been doing.