Tripura: PWD scam accused minister rushed to hospital, arrested

Agartala (Tripura) [India], Oct 22 (ANI): Communist Party of India (Marxist) MLA and former state Public Works Department (PWD) Minister Badal Chowdhury, who had been avoiding arrest in the Rs 600 crore PWD scam, was arrested on Monday, after he was brought to a hospital in Agartala.

"We had posted police officials at several places in the city in civil clothes. When Chowdhury was brought to the ILS hospital, officers arrested him and admitted him to the hospital. We are following due procedure," Superintendent of Police (SP) Kulwant Singh said.

Badal Chowdhury was brought to the hospital by his wife and daughter and taken to the Intense Care Unit (ICU) for medical treatment.

Police had been searching for him for the last six days. Reportedly, around half a dozen police personnel including an SP were suspended for failing to arrest the former minister in time.

A delegation of senior leaders, including former Chief Minister and opposition leader Manik Sarkar visited him at the hospital.

"Chowdhury is in such a state of shock that he could not even speak to his wife or any of the leaders who went to see him at the hospital," Sarkar said outside the hospital.

According to hospital sources, Chowdhury's condition is stated to be critical and is being treated by a senior cardiologist.

The development came hours after Tripura High Court conducted a hearing on his anticipatory bail plea; however, no order was passed in the matter.

A Tripura court had, on October 17, rejected anticipatory bail of Choudhury in the PWD scam case.

Meanwhile, former chief engineer Sunil Bhowmik, who was arrested on October 13 in connection with the case and sent to police remand, is also getting medical treatment at GBP hospital here.

Earlier on August 23, Vigilance sleuths had quizzed Choudhury over irregularities in construction work and misuse of power during his tenure as PWD-minister from 2008-2009. (ANI)