AJUP Chief Humayun Kabir Arrested After Alleging Police Interference in Rejinagar Bypoll

Tension flared in Murshidabad's Rejinagar bypoll as AJUP's Humayun Kabir was taken into custody mid-polling

October 6, 2026

AJUPs Humayun Kabir Is Taken Into Custody — "Confront police with cudgels" — Kabir's remarks lead to his own arrest

Bypoll was triggered after Kabir vacated the Rejinagar seat to retain his Naoda MLA position

Humayun Kabir, chief of the Aam Janata Unnayan Party (AJUP) and MLA from Naoda, was arrested on Tuesday after he got into repeated altercations with police and allegedly threatened security personnel while voting was underway in the high-stakes Rejinagar Assembly bypoll in West Bengal’s Murshidabad district.

What led to the arrest

Kabir had earlier cast his vote in Rejinagar along with his son Golam Nabi Azad and other family members, after which he alleged that police were interfering with the voting process at several booths and claimed that Muslim voters in the constituency had been harassed for the past two months. He accused the district police administration of working on behalf of the BJP and said police presence around his house had caused him concern.

According to IANS, Kabir then got into scuffles with police personnel deployed for security and was seen holding a sub-inspector of West Bengal Police by the collar. He was quoted as asking, “If the police come to beat us, will they let them go?” and reportedly called on the people of Rejinagar to “confront the police with cudgels.” Rejinagar Police subsequently detained him from his party office, with Beldanga Sub-Divisional Police Officer Anandjit Hore confirming that Kabir was “taken into custody because he violated the law.” He was taken to Rejinagar Police Station.

Background to the bypoll

The Rejinagar bypoll was necessitated after Kabir, who had won both the Naoda and Rejinagar Assembly seats in the 2026 West Bengal elections, chose to retain Naoda and vacated Rejinagar. His son, Golam Nabi Azad, is contesting the Rejinagar seat for AJUP in the bypoll, against BJP candidate Sakharov Sarkar. The Election Commission had deployed 71 companies of central forces to ensure peaceful voting across both constituencies.

A pattern of friction with authorities

This is not the first time Kabir, a former IPS officer who later entered politics with the Trinamool Congress before being expelled and founding AJUP in December 2025, has clashed publicly with authorities or courted controversy. A separate case was registered against him at Rejinagar Police Station earlier this year under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita over remarks made at a public meeting, and he has previously faced a police case over athreat made during a 2024 Lok Sabha campaign speech.

As of Tuesday evening, further legal proceedings against Kabir in connection with the bypoll-day incident had not been detailed, and voting in the Rejinagar constituency was continuing despite the unrest.

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