Kolkata, May 26 (IANS) Even after his arrest, former Block Development Officer (BDO) Prashant Barman allegedly tried to assert his influence and misbehaved with police personnel through the night, officials said on Tuesday.
Barman, accused in the abduction and murder of gold trader Swapan Kamilya at Salt Lake’s Dattabad last year and on the run, was arrested around midnight on Monday in New Town on the outskirts of Kolkata in what police described as a coincidental development.
According to police, Barman, allegedly under the influence of alcohol, rammed his car into a two-wheeler rider. When asked to undergo a breathalyser test, he allegedly refused and pushed away policemen who insisted on the procedure. He was eventually taken to the Eco Park police station without the test being conducted.
Police said that Prashant was also disobedient when he got into the police vehicle. He tried to sit in the middle seat of the vehicle. After many attempts, he was made to sit in the back. Prashant was taken to the Eco Park police station in the wee hours of Monday. According to police, he misbehaved with officials even there. The police took Prashant’s phone after he was arrested. However, he wanted the phone back. He even said that he would talk to the state Chief Secretary.
Eyewitnesses said police adopted a restrained approach despite his repeated refusal to follow instructions. Sources added that officers at the Eco Park police station contacted the Bidhannagar Police Commissionerate for further instructions, and a decision on further action is awaited.
Police said that Prashant has been ‘on the run’ for a long time. Although many claimed that he was seen at different locations in the city.
Prashant Barman, the long-absconding former Block Development Officer (BDO) of Raiganj Block in North Dinajpur district of West Bengal, who was accused in the case of the abduction and murder of gold merchant Swapan Kamilya at Salt Lake’s Dattabad in Kolkata last year, was arrested last night.
Prashant’s arrest was coincidental and dramatic. According to information by the Bidhannagar City Police, under whose jurisdiction New Town comes, Prashant, while driving his car under the influence of alcohol, hit a two-wheeler rider.
The two-wheeler rider then blocked the way of Prashant’s vehicle and asked him to come out. Instead of being apologetic, Prashant started abusing him.
Soon, some local people assembled there, and Prashant started abusing them as well. One of the locals recorded Prashant’s entire abusive behaviour and later circulated it on social media, the authenticity of which could not be verified by IANS.
As the situation became more tense, the cops from the local Eco Park Police Station arrived. They detained Prashant and took him to the police station. Later, he was arrested.
Prashant, a close confidant of some leaders in the previous ruling party, Trinamool Congress, had been absconding for a long time since he was accused of the murder of gold merchant Swapan Kamilya at Salt Lake’s Dattabad in October last year.
The body of Kamilya was recovered from near a canal at Dattabad, Salt Lake. Prashant was accused of abducting and killing him.
The accused even managed to obtain an anticipatory bail from a sub-divisional court in the matter. The Bidhannagar City Police had then approached the Calcutta High Court opposing the anticipatory bail. The High Court rejected the anticipatory bail order and ordered him to surrender by December 22, 2025.
However, when he did not do so, the Bidhannagar Court issued an arrest warrant against him. Prashant then approached the Supreme Court. A bench of Justice Rajesh Bindal and Justice Vijay Bishnoi ordered him to surrender by January 23, 2026. Since then, he had been on the run.
–IANS
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