The West Bengal Police arrested a Bharatiya Janata Party leader in connection with the kidnapping of his 22-year-old daughter in Birbhum district, PTI reported on Sunday. The woman was rescued from North Dinajpur on Sunday.

The BJP leader, Suprabhat Batyabyal, was not home at the time his daughter was kidnapped at gunpoint from his house in Labhpur on Thursday. The party’s district unit claimed that the kidnappers belonged to the Trinamool Congress, and a mob had also smashed a local Trinamool Congress MLA’s vehicle on Saturday. The legislator had sought refuge in the local police station.

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Batyabyal was detained on Saturday night for questioning, an unidentified police officer said. Police teams from Birbhum and North Dinajpur traced the woman to Dalkhola railway station area on Sunday, after which two accused, Raju Sarkar and Dipankar Mondal, were arrested. Batyabyal was arrested later in the day after preliminary investigation indicated he had played a role in the kidnapping. The three men are being questioned.

Birbhum Superintendent of Police Shyam Singh said the police were talking to the woman to find out what had happened. He claimed Batyabyal had roped in Sarkar and Mondal, who were known to him, to carry out the “fake kidnapping”. On motives behind the kidnapping, Singh said it could have been a family problem or to gain political mileage.

“Both Sarkar and Mondal hail from Naxalbari in Darjeeling district and were known to Batyabyal,” Singh said. “In fact, they both had worked at Batyabyal’s residence a few times. The duo had met the BJP leader a day before the fake kidnapping was executed.”

Singh said there were no signs of resistance at Batyabyal’s house from where the woman was allegedly kidnapped. “People in the neighbourhood did not hear any screaming from Batyabyal’s residence,” he said. “This added to our suspicion on the family.”