Howrah: Former Howrah councillor Shyamal Mitra, a close aide of former minister Arup Roy, was arrested on Saturday on charges of extortion and fraud.Officers of Shibpur police station under Howrah City Police arrested Mitra from a housing complex in New Town. He was later produced before a Howrah court, which remanded him seven days of police custody. As Mitra was being taken out of the court and escorted to a prison van, some alleged victims confronted him, beat him and pelted him with eggs.Mitra, a former councillor of Ward 26 of the Howrah Municipal Corporation and a former mayor-in-council member, had allegedly been on the run following a change in the state govt. According to a police officer, multiple allegations have been levelled against Mitra, including extortion amounting to crores of rupees, fraud, intimidation, attacks with gang members and encroachment on private and public land for real estate promotion. He has also been accused of torturing workers of the opposition parties.
