Kolkata: Two days after the arrest of fake vaccination racket kingpin Debanjan Deb, several pictures and videos of Deb along with senior Trinamool Congress leaders have surfaced. Questions are being raised on what is the party’s take on this and whether it will again dent the image of the ruling party, which was already under the lens for some of its leaders being involved in Sarada and Narada scams?
Already the city is agitating over the bogus vaccination scam where Deb, faking as an IAS officer, used to move around in the influential circles in the society. The matter has taken a serious turn after several pictures and videos surfaced that showed top Trinamool leaders with him at different programmes.
Read:| Fake vaccination racket busted in Kolkata after TMC MP Mimi Chakraborty duped
Meanwhile, the opposition leaders like BJP Lok Sabha members Dilip Ghosh and Suvash Sarkar have already alleged that Deb extended his network under the protection of the ruling party in the state. They claim that Trinamool Congress leaders cannot shy away from their responsibilities when the lives of so many persons were at stake.
ETV Bharat spoke to some of these Trinamool Congress leaders whose pictures and videos with Deb have surfaced. Trinamool's Rajya Sabha member, Dr Shantanu Sen claimed that he had no idea who Debanjan Deb was. "I have even filed an FIR against him. On behalf of IMA, several programmes were organised where masks and sanitisers were distributed among people. We, on behalf of IMA, also helped some voluntary organizations and people interested in organizing such distribution camps. Probably in one such programme, Deb clicked his picture along with me. What is my mistake in that," Sen said.
Read:| Police probe credential, connections of fake IAS officer Debanjan Deb
Almost a similar argument was placed by actress-turned-politician and Trinamool MLA, Lovely Mitra. "I do not know him personally. But he introduced himself as a joint secretary to the state government. Since he moved in a vehicle with a blue flashlight attached to it, I did not doubt anything. He distributed masks and sanitisers in a programme. But I was not aware that he was an imposter. Often several applications come to public representatives and not necessarily all are imposters like Deb," Mitra said.
Similarly, another Trinamool MLA, Tapas Roy, whose picture with Deb also surfaced, claimed that he does not know anyone called Debanjan Deb. "I have nothing to say on this issue," Roy said. Minister Firhad Hakim and Trinamool MLA, Debasish Kumar were also contacted by ETV Bharat. But both refused to say anything on this issue.
However, Congress MP and state Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury has held Trinamool Congress directly responsible for this development, "We neither have faith on CBI nor on CID. So we demand a judicial enquiry by a sitting judge. The manner in which the ruling party leaders and ministers are giving statements seems that they are all trying to push this scandal under the carpet. All involved with the scam should be punished."
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