Kolkata: Indian Secular Front (ISF) leader and Bhangar MLA Naushad Siddiqui was finally granted bail after 40 days by the Calcutta High Court on Thursday. Siddiqui was arrested on January 21 for attacking the police and was taken into judicial custody till February 15. The Bankshal court in Kolkata had rejected the bail plea of the ISF leader earlier.
The Calcutta High Court's division bench of Justice Devangshu Basak granted him bail. Siddiqui's lawyer told that the bail was granted on the ground that the State government could not produce necessary evidence against his client. It may be recalled that Siddique, along with many other ISF leaders, was arrested following a clash with the police. The ISF launched a protest in the heart of the city Dharmatala on January 21. Although many of the ISF leaders were later released on bail, Siddiqui's bail plea was rejected. Siddique had alleged that the State government was trying to keep him behind the bars till the panchayat polls.
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Siddiqui was elected from the Bhangar constituency in South 24 Parganas in the 2021 Assembly elections. He is a cleric at Furfura Sharif in Serampore in the Hooghly district. He and his elder brother set up ISF just before the Assembly elections. The organisation claims to bring together Muslims, Dalits and Adivasis. ISF had also got into an alliance with the Left Front and the Congress called Sanjukta Morcha. His arrest, on the occasion of ISF's anniversary has left members of his outfit angry.
