PRAYAGRAJ: A joint team of West Bengal and Handia (Prayagraj) police on Sunday arrested former Trinamool Congress (TMC) MLA Khokan Das near Handia toll plaza on Kanpur-Varanasi highway in connection with the 2021 post-poll violence in West Bengal.Das, TMC heavyweight and a former MLA from the Bardhaman South constituency, is accused of inciting a mob to target BJP leaders and allegedly orchestrating attacks on their residences following the 2021 assembly elections.DCP ( Ganga Nagar) Kuldeep Singh said Das was arrested when he was on the way back to Bardhaman.“Following a request from the West Bengal Police, the Handia police in Prayagraj extended assistance and a joint team was conducting vehicle checks on the highway,” Singh said.Das was taken into custody in connection with allegations of criminal intimidation, extortion and abetment of political violence. Police said he would be taken to West Bengal after obtaining a transit remand from the local court.According to police sources, a team from the West Bengal Police had been tracking Das and received specific inputs about his movement along NH-2. Acting on the information, the joint team intercepted and detained him.He was being produced before a local court to secure transit remand, which would facilitate his transfer to West Bengal for further questioning and legal proceedings.Das had won the Bardhaman South assembly seat in the 2021 elections, securing 91,015 votes and defeating BJP candidate Sandip Nandi, who polled 82,910 votes.However, his electoral fortunes reversed in the 2026 Assembly polls, in which the BJP ended the Trinamool Congress’s 15-year rule in West Bengal by defeating the govt led by Mamata Banerjee. According to Election Commission data, Das lost the Bardhaman South seat to BJP candidate Moumita Biswas Mishra by a margin of more than 30,000 votes. While Das secured 77,284 votes, Mishra polled 1,07,754 votes.The former MLA landed in controversy following the TMC’s defeat in the recent polls. An audio clip that went viral on social media allegedly featured Das claiming that he was a BJP leader in the wake of the changed political landscape.
