MOYNA: NIA arrested TMC worker Swapan Bhowmik in connection with the 2023 murder of a BJP booth president in the run-up to panchayat elections. Bhowmik, absconding for over a year and a half, was arrested from his daughter’s residence in Sabang in East Midnapore on Friday. The family of Bijoy Krishna Bhunia had approached Calcutta HC, alleging state-sponsored cover-up and demanding a central agency probe. HC subsequently handed over the probe to NIA. Bhunia, a BJP booth president at Goramahal village under Bakra gram panchayat, was abducted from outside his home on May 1, 2023. Hours later, he was found dead. Welcoming the arrest, BJP functionary Prosenjit Bhowmik said, “While the agency is doing its job, our only demand is justice.” TMC, however, called the arrest politically motivated. Pradip De, a local neta, said the central agency was being used as a tool to destabilise the party ahead of polls. NIA is expected to produce Bhowmik before a special court and seek his custody.