Kolkata: The sleuths of the Special Operations Group of Baruipur Police District in South 24 Parganas district in West Bengal seized 11 high-end mobile phones and Rs 2,00,000 in cash from a Trinamool Congress Legislator at Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport in Kolkata on Monday evening.
Pares Ram Das, the Legislator from Canning (Paschim) Assembly Constituency in the same district, was attempting to escape to Mumbai, at the time of his arrest.
“Among the 11 mobile phones seized from his possession, some are extremely high-priced iPhones, while others are high-end Android phones of other reputed brands. At the same time, Rs 2,00,000 was recovered from the handbag he was carrying,” said a district police officer.
Das had been accused in various cases, the most important of which is related to the charge of rape of a woman in 2023.
He is one of the few Trinamool Congress legislators who are still maintaining allegiance towards former West Bengal Chief Minister, Mamata Banerjee, and her nephew, Abhishek Banerjee.
He had remained absconding for the last 17 days and was not responding to the summons from the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the state police.
Finally, the members of the Special Operations Group of the Baruipur Police District were tipped off by their sources that Das would be making an escape attempt to Mumbai from Kolkata Airport on Monday evening.
Accordingly, the members of the Special Operations Group waited within the airport premises, and as soon as the absconding accused entered the airport, he was arrested. He will be presented at a lower court later on Tuesday, and the Public Prosecutor will seek his police custody for further interrogation.
Neither Mamata Banerjee nor Abhishek Banerjee had given any reaction to the arrest of Das since Monday evening. The investigation into the rape originates from a complaint filed in September this year with the Sub-Divisional Police Officer of Canning.
Das is an accused in Canning Police Station Case No. 561/2026, registered on September 5, 2026, under Sections 376 (rape), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 420 (cheating), 120B (criminal conspiracy), and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the previous Indian Penal Code.
(IANS)
