TMC MLA Dilip Mandal in police custody

Debabrata MahapatraBhubaneswar: West Bengal Police on Wednesday arrested TMC MLA Dilip Mandal from a beachside hotel in Puri for his alleged involvement in cases related to intimidation of BJP workers during the recently concluded assembly elections.Mandal was caught by a joint team of West Bengal and Puri police from the hotel lobby when he was preparing to check out and shift to another hotel in Baliapanda area.“We provided all necessary assistance to West Bengal Police to trace the suspect, who had checked in (at the hotel) with an associate on Tuesday,” said Puri SP, Prateek Singh. times of India.Mandal, who was taken to West Bengal on transit remand, claimed that he was being framed. “The BJP is doing vendetta politics. Since I have been vocal against their top leaders, they took revenge by arresting me,” he told reporters in Puri.Earlier, fearing his escape, around 30 officers, including 20 Puri police officers, surrounded the hotel.A Puri police officer said, “He had checked in in the name of his colleague. As soon as he came down to complete the check-out formalities, he was taken into custody. There was no resistance. He had already booked another hotel near the beach for Wednesday.”Sources said Mandal had reached Puri by train about a week ago and was changing hotels to avoid detection. His alleged hiding in Puri was confirmed after West Bengal Police received information from one of his close associates in Kolkata.Mandal’s arrest follows the arrest of his son Arghya on May 18 in Bakkhali-Fraserganj for allegedly possessing illegal firearms.