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Bengal CID summons BJP Lok Sabha MP Arjun Singh in economic offence case
CID officials visited Singh’s residence at Bhatpara in North 24 Parganas district on Thursday night and put up the notice on the entrance to the house. He has been asked to appear for questioning at the CID headquarters in Kolkata’s Alipore area at 11 am on May 25.
The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the West Bengal police on Thursday night served summon notice to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Lok Sabha member Arjun Singh in connection with an economic offence that was allegedly committed when he was a Trinamool Congress (TMC) legislator, HT has learnt.
“It is evident during the investigation that you have sufficient knowledge in this case,” said the notice, a copy of which was seen by HT.
“They (state police) will file all sorts of cases against me. This is not surprising. The government is after me,” Singh told HT.
Asked whether he would visit the CID office in person, Singh said, “I have five days to think about it.”
The first information report (FIR) was lodged on July 28, 2020, more than a year after Singh wrested the Barrackpore Lok Sabha seat from the TMC’s then incumbent MP Dinesh Trivedi who has also joined the saffron camp.
The development came three days after urban development minister Firhad Hakim, panchayat minister Subrata Mukherjee, Kamarhati legislator Madan Mitra and former TMC leader Sovan Chatterjee were arrested from their homes on Monday morning by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in connection with the 2016 Narada sting operation case in which they are accused to taking bribe. All four are in judicial custody.
CID officials visited Singh’s residence at Bhatpara in North 24 Parganas district on Thursday night and put up the notice on the entrance to the house. He has been asked to appear for questioning at the CID headquarters in Kolkata’s Alipore area at 11 am on May 25.
The case was registered at Bhatpara police station under sections 403,409,420, 486, 471 and 120B of the Indian Penal Code and Section 13 of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
The state police had earlier raided the residences of Singh and some of his relatives.
In August last year, police raided Singh’s home in connection with the case which allegedly involves financial irregularities to the tune of ₹11 crore at Bhatpara municipality and a local cooperative bank.
Singh was chairman of the Bhatpara municipality from 2010 to 2019. He left the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and joined the BJP in March 2019. He also headed the bank’s board.
Recognised as a heavyweight leader, Singh was a four-time legislator of the TMC from Bhatpara before he joined the BJP and defeated Trivedi in 2019. The election was marked by violence which continues intermittently in the region. Singh’s son and brother-in-law are also sitting legislators of the BJP.
