MALDA: NIA has made its first arrests over the April 1 siege of judicial officers involved in SIR verifications at Mothabari in Malda, picking up two members of Congress and one of ISF. Congress’ Sahadat Hossain and Asif Sk were taken into custody on Sunday alongside ISF’s Golam Rabbani. Sayem Choudhury, the local Congress candidate, was also questioned but released later. NIA’s preliminary findings suggest the siege was pre-planned and involved a multi-layered conspiracy. Investigators found Rabbani held a meeting the day before the violence, while Asif and Sahadat were present during the agitation. All three were produced before an NIA court in Kolkata. Sahadat is a functionary of the Congress trade union, INTUC. Asif is district chief of Chhatra Parishad, state Congress’ youth wing. Rabbani is a panchayat member. Choudhury, the Congress candidate, alleged a TMC-BJP nexus behind the arrests, calling the protest a peaceful demonstration against voter deletions. TMC candidate Nazrul Islam dismissed the allegation. Before NIA stepped in, Bengal police had lodged 12 cases and arrested 49 people. These included Maulana Shahjahan Ali, ISF’s Mothabari candidate.