Kolkata:The three Congress MLAs who were held in West Bengal while carrying a huge amount of cash have been sent to 10 days police remand by Howrah district court on Sunday.
The MLAs -- Irfan Ansari from Jamtara, Rajesh Kachhap from Khijri, and Naman Bixal Kongari from Kolebira -- were detained in Howrah on Saturday evening and cash worth over Rs 48 lakh was recovered from the car. On Sunday, five people, including the driver of the vehicle and the MLAs were arrested. According to reports, the accused were not able to justify why they were carrying the cash. The case, according to sources, will be probed by CID.
Meanwhile, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi has suspended the three MLAs. “Sonia Gandhi has suspended the three MLAs. This is a message to the other MLAs to keep public faith,” AICC in charge of Jharkhand Avinash Pande said on Sunday. “Those who stay with the Congress will be suitably rewarded,” he added. “A state chief minister is in touch with our MLAs and a central minister is threatening them to destabilize an elected government. This is a conspiracy,” said Pande.
WB cash car: Suspended by Cong, 3 Jharkhand MLAs produced before court; CID to probe case Also read: Not mine: Partha on money recovered during ED raids
Without making a direct charge, Pande said that the Assam chief minister had been frequenting Delhi recently and the Congress knew who all he had been in touch with. “We have all the records and will make it public at a suitable time,” he said. “The coalition government of JMM-Congress-RJD was safe in Jharkhand and will run its full course,” claimed Pande.
“The BJP had been trying to destabilize the Jharkhand government since it was formed in 2019 and had been approaching its MLAs,” he said. The Congress in charge of Jharkhand further said that the three suspended MLAs also had a role in the cross-voting during the July 18 presidential polls, which are being investigated by the party.
“These three were certainly involved and were trying to rope in the others,” said Pande. The Congress leader termed the BJP’s alleged attempts to destabilize elected governments as a dark chapter in the history of Indian democracy and said that it will have to be collectively opposed. He observed that a similar pattern where ED had been used to disturb non-BJP governments had been going on in Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa and in Maharashtra of late.
“There is no cabinet in Maharashtra even after 31 days of the new chief minister being sworn in. They fear that if a cabinet is announced it may not be able to stay for a week,” said Pande. In a warning to the other lawmakers in Jharkhand, Pande said: "In the coming days, be it any public representative, party's office bearer, or any worker, we have the information of everyone. Whoever is found connected or involved in this, the party will take action against him.” Meanwhile, media chairman Pawan Khera said, “This is not Operation Lotus, this is Operation Slush.”
