Rejinagar bypoll: Humayun Kabir fears arrest over alleged communal tension plot

Aam Janata Unnayan Party chief Humayun Kabir appeared before the West Bengal Police on Monday in connection with a case over an alleged conspiracy to create tension between two communities. Kabir reached Baharampur Police Station before the scheduled reporting time of 11 am and said he would cooperate with the investigation, while also saying he feared he could be arrested.

The development comes ahead of the Rejinagar Assembly bypoll on October 6. The by-election was necessitated by Kabir's resignation from the seat after he chose to retain Nowda, and the AJUP has fielded his son, Ghulam Nabi Azad, as its candidate.

"Three police officers had earlier implicated my father-in-law in a false case. They had subsequently faced criticism in court. Now they have summoned me," Kabir said.

A senior police officer said the case was registered on September 14 after the police recently released an audio recording during a press conference in Baharampur. The police said the conversation pointed to a possible conspiracy to instigate tension between two communities. According to the police, the conversation was recorded recently, after the date of the Rejinagar by-election was announced, and investigators are examining whether it contains evidence of a criminal conspiracy.

Meanwhile, Kabir has approached the Election Commission over the arrests of several party workers ahead of the bypoll. "The police administration is arresting my people indiscriminately. They can arrest me too if they want," he said.

According to Kabir's complaint to the commission, the superintendent of the Baharampur police district had "lost neutrality" and was trying to "directly influence the election". He alleged that the arrests were meant to disrupt the Aam Janata Unnayan Party's campaign. A block-level AJUP leader was arrested on Sunday for allegedly making provocative remarks against the police in May, taking the total number of accused arrested in the case so far to four. Kabir also alleged that officers-in-charge of different police stations in Murshidabad district, acting on the instructions of the police superintendent, were "targeting senior state- and block-level leaders and workers" of his party by "implicating them in old and false cases".

Kabir's appearance before the police, the case linked to the alleged audio recording, and his complaint to the Election Commission have all come in the run-up to the October 6 Rejinagar bypoll, for which the AJUP has fielded his son.