KOLKATA: Canning (West) MLA Paresh Ram Das was arrested by Baruipur police at Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport on Monday, minutes before he was scheduled to board a flight to Mumbai, in connection with alleged rape and extortion complaint lodged by a woman on Sep 3, 2023.Police sources said an SOG team, acting on specific intelligence that Das was planning to leave Kolkata, intercepted him with the assistance of Bidhannagar police. He had allegedly been untraceable for 17 days. Earlier, a search at his Canning residence had led to the arrest of four Trinamool functionaries, but Das remained elusive.The case (561/2026), registered at Canning police station, relates to allegations of rape and extortion before the 2023 panchayat polls. The FIR was registered on Sep 5 under IPC Sections 376, 323, 420, 120B and 506. Das was taken to Baruipur police headquarters for interrogation and will be produced in court on Tuesday.In May, the Calcutta High Court had granted him interim protection from arrest in connection with six other FIRs, valid until June 30 and subject to cooperation with the investigation.In her complaint, accessed by TOI, the woman alleged that Das had lured her with the promise of a panchayat poll ticket before allegedly assaulting and raping her. After his arrest, Das told reporters, “I am being taken away after being made to sign (a document). I don’t know what charges are against me or why I have been arrested.”Trinamool spokesperson Kunal Ghosh questioned the timing of the arrest. “I don’t know the details regarding Paresh Ram’s case. As long as he was with Ritabrata (Banerjee), the police took no action. Recently, he wanted to return to Mamata-Di’s camp. Only then did the police start saying ‘he tried to flee’, ‘he must be caught’, etc.”Arup Roy, chairperson of Trinamool’s Ritabrata camp, said, “The police must have found some evidence regarding the allegations against Das. The arrest might be based on that. Besides, we don’t attach importance to Ghosh’s words. He says many things.”