Rakesh Singh ‘shown arrested’ in Vidyasagar bust vandalism case

KOLKATA: Barely three days after Congress-turned-BJP leader Rakesh Singh was arrested from Kolkata airport for allegedly threatening two cops in Watgunge days before the Parliamentary elections in Kolkata, the special investigation team set up to probe the Vidyasagar bust vandalism claimed that Singh was one of the perpetrators who led the vandals. On Thursday, Kolkata Police submitted the arrest memo at a local court.
“The cops made a prayer before Bankshall Court saying Singh has been ‘shown arrested’ for the vandalism incident. The court has accepted the prayer. Since the arrest memo has been submitted, it is up to Kolkata Police when they decide to produce him in court for this particular case. We have prayed before the court to keep us informed about the developments,” said Subhajit Bal, Singh’s defence lawyer.

Public prosecutor Abhijit Chattopadhyay said the court had been informed about the arrest in the same fashion that cops had moved a petition to question Singh in the vandalism case less than a day after his arrest from the airport. “He was not needed to be produced in court the same day,” Chattopadhyay said.
The police, however, said they want to question Singh to identify the others involved in the bust vandalism case. Among the suspects is a close aide of an MP. “We have enough footage to show Singh’s presence in the area on the day of the incident. In a video that eventually went viral, Singh is seen instructing his close aides via a WhatsApp group message to attend BJP party president Amit Shah’s roadshow with rods and sticks. We mentioned it twice in our prayer before the court — once in the arrest memo, and earlier, a day after his arrest,” said an officer. Sources said the WhatsApp clip has been preserved for forensic examination.
Sources said Singh’s questioning would be the first time that a BJP leader would be questioned on the vandalism issue. So far, 24 people have been arrested in connection with this case — 23 by Amherst Street police and one by the SIT. “This is the second, and by far the most important, arrest made in this case so far,” said an officer. Another 35 were arrested for creating trouble on College Street with cops largely blaming Singh’s men for orchestrating that trouble.
Singh has denied all charges. In a Facebook post after his arrest, Singh said the BJP was ready to fight both a political and a legal war to establish the government conspiracy. “No matter what, I will not bow before this government,” he had said, adding that the live video he shared on the Watgunge incident was to establish how the cops had “deliberately tried to run him over with a car”. On the charges against him for the bust vandalism, he said, “It was a lowly attempt to edit out my entire appeal and present only a portion of it as a conspiracy to malign me.”