Ex-minister Aroop Biswas’s brother held in alleged extortion in Tollygunge film industry

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File photo of Swarup Biswas. | Photo Credit: DEBASISH BHADURI

Former sports minister Aroop Biswas’s brother, Swarup Biswas, was arrested by the Kolkata police on Thursday (June 4) night over allegedly running an extortion racket in the Tollygunge film industry while also allegedly molesting a 42-year-old make-up artist.

According to the officials from the New Alipore police station, Mr. Swarup Biswas, the former president of the Federation of Cine Technicians & Workers of Eastern India (FCTWEI), was arrested based on an FIR lodged by the female make-up artist who is a resident of the Regent Park area.

In her complaint, the woman alleged that she had been out of work for nearly two years and was asked to pay money when she approached for employment opportunities. She also alleged that she was threatened after failing to meet the demand.

“She said that she is a member of the Tollygunge Make-up Artist Federation, and she has had no work for the last two years. On August 20, 2025, she came to Suruchi Sangha at New Alipore to meet Mr. Biswas for work. But Mr. Biswas and his associates asked for money and threatened her that if she did not provide money, she would not get any work,” said an officer based on the FIR.

Later, the woman further came to approach Mr. Biswas on Thursday when he and his associates misbehaved with her and also asked her to sexually compromise with them to obtain jobs in the industry, said the officer.

“She also alleged that one of her colleagues, Kartick Bhattacharya, had to pay ₹45,000 on December last year to Mr. Biswas for work. According to her claim, Mr. Biswas collected more than ₹22 Lakhs from different persons in the name of work. She accused him of fostering a system in which workers were allegedly denied opportunities and blacklisted for not being “close enough” to influential figures or complying with the alleged “syndicate raj” in the cine workers’ industry,” the officer added.

The case was lodged under sections 75(1)(ii), 308(4), 308(5), 109