Kolkata | The NIA on Sunday detained seven people, including a Congress candidate for the West Bengal polls, and arrested a panchayat member of the ISF over the gherao of judicial officers by locals in Malda protesting the deletion of names in the SIR exercise, an officer said.

According to an official, the Congress's Mothabari candidate, Sayem Chowdhury, was picked up along with some of his associates while he was campaigning for the polls in the Alinagar panchayat area.

The NIA has been tasked by the Election Commission to probe into the April 1 geharo incident, following a directive from the Supreme Court, which has censured the West Bengal administration over the issue.

"According to preliminary information, ISF's gram panchayat member Golam Rabbani was arrested based on leads obtained during the interrogation of Mofakkarul Islam, an AIMIM member, who had earlier been held by the state police," the official said.

NIA sources said Rabbani is likely to be brought to Kolkata and produced before a court.

"Our officials believe that interrogating him would yield crucial information related to the incident," he said.