Tarakeswar civic body ex-chief arrested after weeks on run, granted bail
Times of India | 20 August 2026
Chandernagore: Hooghly Rural District Police arrested Uttam Kundu, former chairperson of Tarakeswar municipality and current Arambagh organisational district president of the Ritabrata Banerjee faction of Trinamool Congress (TMC), from a hideout in Kolkata late Wednesday night.
He was produced before the Chandernagore Subdivisional Court on Thursday and was granted bail.
Kundu was absconding since June 25, when Kolkata-based promoter Rajesh Agarwal lodged a complaint alleging fraud and extortion. Police registered an FIR accusing Kundu of extorting Rs 40 lakh from Agarwal, forcibly occupying an under-construction flat and illegally grabbing land.
Agarwal alleged that Kundu had threatened him and his wife and claimed he had lost money invested in a 10-storey building at Tarakeswar bus stand.
“He threatened me and my wife a lot. We built a 10-storey building at the Tarakeswar bus stand after signing an MoU with the municipality in 2011. Later, we also invested in Odisha. But he looted everything,” Agarwal told TOI.
Agarwal said he had approached former Kolkata mayor Firhad Hakim but received no help. He later approached the police and court after BJP came to govt. Several others have since lodged similar complaints against Kundu.
Before the TMC split following the Bengal assembly elections, Kundu was Arambagh president of the party’s trade union wing, INTTUC, and worked closely with Ritabrata Banerjee.
After the split, he joined the Ritabrata faction and was appointed its Arambagh organisational district president.
Following his arrest, a crowd gathered outside Tarakeswar police station carrying eggs, but police took Kundu directly to court.
Ganesh Chakra, BJP vice-president in the Arambagh organisational district, said, “It’s our victory. After the complaint, he managed to influence some people, including in our party. Later, we started a social media campaign demanding his immediate arrest. Uttam was a criminal, he captured many properties through threats.”