Malkhan Singh remanded

MALDA, Feb. 17. — The hardcore Kamtapur Liberation Organisation militant, Malkhan Singh, has been remanded for 10 days in police custody by the court, the Malda additional SP said today. Malda police had arrested Malkhan Singh and his five associates from Pakuahat area yesterday. Since their arrest, the top police officials in the administration have been interrogating the KLO activists to find out more about their activities and extortion net-work in the three districts. “We hope that the new trend of extortion that has come up in last two years in this region, will be reduced after the arrest of Malkhan Singh,” said Mr Debashis Boral, the additional SP. Police officials said that they would have to interrogate the KLO militant more to know how far they have set up their network for extortion and how many of them were involved in north Bengal. “To uproot the menace of extortion from the grassroots level, we need to continue with the investigation and operation of seeking out youths engaged in this illegal trade and bring them back in the mainstream,” a senior police officer said. — SNS