The West Bengal government has started registering and reopening previous cases relating to violence during and after the 2021 Assembly polls. They have set up a committee to look into the activities of criminal syndicates. Crackdown on multiple Trinamool Congress also continued on Monday (May 18, 2026), with many coming in the police nets. 

“In view of the complaints received relating to post-poll violence in 2021, the following action has been taken so far: 458 new enquiries have been started, 181 new FIRs have been registered, and 59 cases where final reports had been submitted have been reopened,” a statement from the West Bengal police on Monday (May 18, 2026) said. The police have also confirmed that the process of registering cases and reopening old ones is still ongoing. 

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari formed two committees on Monday (May 18, 2026) to investigate institutional corruption and atrocities against women and girl children. 

“The cabinet has given its go-ahead for these committees… The work will start from June 1… The people want to see investigations against the corruption that has happened in this State,” Mr. Adhikari said after his second cabinet meeting after assuming power in West Bengal. The CM also added that the women of the State have their hope pinned on the newly formed BJP government to bring justice to them against all the atrocities against women and assured that the committee is set to do that in the coming days. 

The Institutional Corruption Committee will be headed by Retired Justice Biswajit Basu and IPS K. Jayaraman and the other committee will be led by Retired Justice Samapti Chattopadhyay & IPS Dyamanti Sen.  

More TMC leaders arrested 

In a continued crackdown on the Trinamool Congress party members and alleged financial irregularity and violence charges, many TMC leaders have come under the West Bengal Police’s net. 

In the South 24 Parganas Bishnupur constituency, police arrested TMC MLA Dilip Mondal’s son, Arghya Mondal and four others under allegations of financial irregularities. Police seized arms and four rounds of bullets from Mr. Mondal’s son’s possession.  

The police have been on the lookout for Mr. Mondal for over four days and have raided his house in the Pailan area, but he evaded the officers. During the raids, they found a massive bungalow, lavish cars, a swimming pool, expensive birds, decorative caves, and even a secret tunnel. Even when the TMC faced a difficult time in the elections in 2026, Mr. Mondal was able to retain his seat in the area. After the elections, allegations of Mr. Mondal threatening political opponents started coming to the fore. 

In a similar incident, another former TMC MLA’s son also faced arrest on Monday (May 18, 2026) on charges of money extortion. Former Daspur MLA Mamata Bhuniya’s son Kumaresh Bhuiya was arrested by the police. He faced “thief, thief” slogans while he was taken to the court.  

The WB Police also arrested TMC leaders in Durgapur for involvement in post-poll violence after the 2021 Assembly elections. Satadip Ghatak, the block president of the Laudaha-Faridpur area in the Pandabeswar Assembly constituency of Durgapur, was arrested and produced in court on Monday (May 18, 2026). Like other Trinamool leaders facing the police action, Mr. Ghatak also faced “thief, thief” slogans as police escorted him out in a police van. 

In the same Durgapur area, former TMC MLA Malay Ghatak’s close aide Raju Ahluwalia on charges of post-poll violence after the 2021 elections and extortion charges.  

“This is a political conspiracy,” Mr. Ahluwalia said while he was seen being taken to court with a rope tied around his waist.  

Two TMC councillors, one from Bardhaman – Sahabuddin Khan, and one from Mathabhanga – Chandrasekhar Ray, were also arrested on Monday (May 18, 2026). Both had allegations of exortion against them.

In another incident, a TMC zonal chairman, Sukhdev Mahato and two others were also arrested from the Hooghly area for involvement in the 2021 post-poll violence. He was arrested by the police on charges of violence against BJP workers and abuse against women. 

Over the past week, many Trinamool leaders have been held by the police, including panchayat pradhans, local party leaders, and family members of MLAs. The arrests have been cut across sections. 

In one bizarre turn of events incident, two Trinamool leaders of Kankalitala gram panchayat — Mamoon Sheikh and Alef Sheikh — returned money allegedly collected as “penalties” from BJP supporters after they lost the 2021 Assembly polls in Bengal. 

From Cooch Behar to Howrah, South 24 Parganas, Nadia, Hooghly, and other places, arrests have been made from almost all districts across the State as the crackdown keeps intensifying. The police action picked up more pace after CM Mr. Adhikari, on May 16, asked people to file complaints against TMC leaders of the previous government who have extorted money from people. 

Published – May 18, 2026 02:46 pm IST