Badal Chowdhury was arrested on Monday night
After a six-day-long frantic search, the Tripura police has finally arrested absconding former finance minister Badal Chowdhury from a hospital in state capital Agartala, where he had been brought by his wife and daughter and taken to the Intensive Care Unit or ICU for treatment on Monday late night.
Mr Chowdhury has not been taken to a police station since he was unconscious in the ICU, but stands arrested since last night. His condition has since improved and will be moved out of the ICU.
Mr Chowdhury has been booked in a graft case of over Rs 600 crore that allegedly took place during his tenure as the Public Works Department (PWD) minister during the Left Front rule in Tripura.
Former chief minister and Opposition leader Manik Sarkar along with CPI-M state secretary Gautam Das, former Tripura East MP Jitendra Choudhury had met Mr Chowdhury in hospital to arrange for his treatment.
Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb has already suspended eight police personnel including one Superintendent of Police, one inspector, one sub-inspector and five constables for the delay in arresting Mr Chowdhury. Many cops have also been removed from their post.
Earlier on Monday, the vacation bench of the Tripura High Court heard Mr Chowdhury's anticipatory bail application after the district and the sessions court rejected his bail application on October 16, and reserved the order.
The state government has lodged an FIR alleging that various infrastructural works have taken during the Left front government. The allegation against the PWD minister was that the money was paid without the permission of the state cabinet.