The many lives of Saokat Molla: TMC strongman who faced ‘Machh Chor’ taunts, now in NIA custody

In the midst of the heat of the West Bengal Assembly election campaign a couple of months ago, a song went viral. Just like “Khela Hobe (the game is on)” — the slogan and the song — went on to define the 2021 election, this time it was “Machh Chor (fish thief)” that went viral, a satirical song that targeted the culture of corruption that had come to define the Trinamool Congress’s years in power.

The song specifically took aim at former TMC MLA and strongman Saokat Molla, whom the National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested on June 5 in connection with a bomb blast in South 24 Parganas district’s Bhangar area just days before the elections. In the polls, Molla lost to the India Secular Front’s (ISF) Naushad Siddiqui, the incumbent Bhangar MLA. Though the origins of the Machh Chor song — a reference to Molla’s past — are unclear, it is said to have been composed by ISF supporters, though the party and Siddiqui have denied it.

A controversial figure in West Bengal politics, Molla began his career as a fish trader and was a close associate of senior CPI(M) leader and former state minister Abdur Razzak Molla. In 2008, Saokat became a member of the CPI(M) zonal committee and was elected chairman of the Canning Block-II Panchayat Samiti.

Over the years, Saokat has faced multiple allegations, from locals and political opponents, of intimidation and forcible land acquisition. Molla, however, has consistently denied any wrongdoing. In October 2010, he was among the several CPI(M) leaders accused of attacking Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief Mamata Banerjee — then the Railways Minister — when she visited Jibantala in Canning for a political programme.

Following the TMC’s rise to power in 2011, Saokat defected from the CPI(M, with his opponents alleging that cases against him subsequently lost momentum. His rise in the TMC was swift. After the murder of Manik Paik, the TMC president of Canning Block II, in 2013, Saokat became the block president and gradually emerged as the dominant political figure in the region. He also developed close ties with Mamata and TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee.

In the 2016 Assembly elections, the TMC fielded Saokat from Canning Purba, where he defeated CPI(M) candidate Ajijur Rahaman Molla. He retained the seat in 2021, defeating ISF’s Gazi Shahabuddin Siraji.

His tenure, however, was repeatedly marked by allegations of political violence. During the 2018 panchayat elections, the Opposition accused him of orchestrating attacks, vandalism, bombings, and intimidation in the Canning area. Similar allegations surfaced after the 2021 Assembly elections, when the Opposition blamed him for post-poll violence, including assaults, looting, and destruction of property. Saokat denied these allegations.

Saokat’s name also surfaced in investigations related to the alleged multi-crore coal pilferage scam involving Eastern Coalfields Limited (ECL). In June 2022, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) summoned him for questioning in connection with the case. The scam was linked to illegal coal extraction from ECL mines in the Kunustoria and Kajora areas of West Bengal.

Despite the controversies, his position in the TMC remained undiminished. In 2019, he was appointed the TMC’s South 24 Parganas district youth president and later became the district general secretary. Following the 2021 polls, he was entrusted with organisational responsibilities in both Satgachia and Bhangar Assembly constituencies and served on standing committees of several Assembly seats. Saokat’s security cover was also significantly enhanced, with the state government providing him Z-plus category security.

Ahead of the recent Assembly elections, Mamata Banerjee publicly backed Saokat at a rally in Canning, saying, “If I am the left hand, Saokat is my right hand. I will not tolerate any atrocities against him.” However, the party’s decision to field Saokat against Siddiqui backfired — Bhangar kept out the TMC in the previous panchayat elections, too, even as the ISF managed to increase its influence in pockets of Howrah and North 24 Parganas — and he lost.

Reacting to his arrest, BJP leader Rahul Sinha said people facing allegations of “anti-people and anti-national activities” should be investigated and action should be taken wherever evidence exists.

Senior Left leader and advocate Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya distanced the CPI(M) from Saokat, stating that he had long ceased to be associated with the party and that his later political career had mostly been under the TMC.