Ranit Kr. Singh , Kolkata - An absconding Block Development Officer (BDO), wanted for the alleged kidnapping and murder of a Salt Lake gold trader, was detained by Bidhannagar police late Monday night following a drunk driving incident in New Town. Prashanta Burman, who had been on the run since January after the Supreme Court denied him protection from arrest, was caught near the Shrachi signal around 10:30 PM after allegedly striking a pedestrian and injuring a motorcyclist while driving in an intoxicated state.

According to eyewitnesses, the heavily intoxicated government official became highly aggressive when passersby protested his reckless actions. A video of the altercation quickly went viral, capturing Burman unsteadily stepping out of his vehicle, shouting abuses at the crowd, and calling them "corrupt" while threatening to slap them. On-duty police personnel immediately intervened, rescued the bleeding biker, and rushed him to a nearby hospital before detaining the belligerent official.

Burman’s arrest brings a dramatic twist to a high-profile case from last year involving the abduction and murder of 45-year-old gold merchant Swapan Kamila. The trader’s mutilated body was recovered from a canal in New Town, following which Kamila's family accused Burman of executing the crime using his official influence and vehicles equipped with flashing lights. The Bidhannagar Police Commissionerate's Eco Park Police Station has taken Burman into custody, where he faces fresh charges alongside the existing murder investigation.