Howrah: Posing as a committed BJP supporter, Aditya Singh, a second-year BCom student at Umesh Chandra College in Kolkata and an alleged associate of suspected militant Hamim Mondal, had reportedly been gathering information on minister of state Umesh Rai and his family, according to relatives, neighbours, local BJP leaders and the minister’s aides.Aditya was arrested on suspicion of helping Hamim, who was picked up from Tikiapara. Investigators traced Hamim’s hideout to a flat in Howrah’s ward 13, where Rai lives.Aditya lived in a high-rise in ward 17, home to BJP MLA Sanjay Singh and represented by councillor Anita Singh. The arrest has raised concern within the BJP.Ambooj Sharma, former Howrah BJP district president, said: “Trinamool leaders running broker networks in slum areas are directly conspiring to place these militants inside BJP-influenced wards. In the Lichubagan slum in my area, this broker racket thrived until the day before the new BJP govt took office, bringing in many suspicious individuals without any records. Since the Left era, the number of unfamiliar foreign nationals in these slums has steadily increased. Within a week of the BJP coming to power, when we started looking into around 200 suspicious individuals, they fled overnight. We are worried. Increased surveillance by our workers and the police under the new govt has likely made BJP ministers and leaders targets. No other place has seen as many extremists arrested from slums as Howrah city. Intensive searches are urgently needed.”After Aditya’s arrest, his mother, Aarti Singh, and grandmother, Mira Singh, said: “Investigators may have received incorrect information about him. Aditya has always been quiet. He spent most of his time studying, watching sports and playing games on his laptop. Occasionally, he met friends. He had a separate room, and beyond that, we do not know much about his activities.”Neighbour Binod Jaiswal said: “Aditya’s family is a polite business family that stays away from trouble. However, Aditya’s behaviour changed over the past few months. Four or five months ago, he suddenly became a BJP supporter. I heard him on the phone strongly speaking about SIR. If asked anything, he avoided answering. He was not like that before. He began mixing closely with BJP-supporting friends from north Howrah, who also visited him.”A close associate of Rai said: “After seeing Aditya’s photo on TV, I recall seeing him working for us before and during elections.”
