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Search on for man who gave money to Jharkhand Congress MLAs: Police
A day after three Jharkhand Congress legislators were arrested by the West Bengal police over possession of ₹49 lakh in cash, investigators on Monday said they are on a lookout for a person who allegedly gave the money to the MLAs.
A day after three Jharkhand Congress legislators were arrested by the West Bengal police over possession of ₹49 lakh in cash, investigators on Monday said they are on a lookout for a person who allegedly gave the money to the MLAs.
The West Bengal Criminal Investigation Department (CID), which is probing the case, also said that the three leaders — Jamtara legislator Irfan Ansari, Khijri MLA Rajesh Kachhap and Kolebira legislator Naman Bixal — spent close to 50 minutes in the premises of a Kolkata hotel and the money is suspected to have been handed over in that period.
According to the security camera footage from the hotel, located on the Sudder Street in central Kolkata, CID officials said room number 106 was opened for the three Congress legislators.
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“The hotel staff told us that the owner of the establishment informed them about the visit and asked to open only one room for the leaders so that they could use the toilet,” a CID official said, requesting anonymity.
The names of the MLAs were not entered in the hotel register although the time of their entry and exit were recorded, the official said, adding that the register only mentioned “MLA, Jamtara” in the slot meant for signature of the guest.
“The MLAs stayed in the room from 3.04 pm to 3.10 pm and left for a bar-cum-restaurant outside the hotel building,” the CID official said, adding that CCTV footage showed the MLAs stayed in the bar from 3.10 pm to 3.50 pm on Saturday.
“The footage showed that when the MLAs where inside the bar, a man left the premises on a scooter and returned after some time with a bag. This is being probed,” said another CID official, also wishing not to be named.
On Sunday, a Howrah district court remanded the legislators — who have been booked under sections 120 (concealing punishable crime) and 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code and other relevant sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act for alleged illegal transportation of cash — in CID’s custody for 10 days.
The MLAs were questioned on Saturday night at Panchla police station in Howrah where Ansari’s SUV, in which the group was travelling, was confiscated by the local police which was acting on a tip-off about illegal transportation of cash. The driver and an aide of Ansari were also arrested and remanded in CID custody.
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The Congress legislators have claimed that they brought the money from their home state to buy sarees from a wholesale market in Kolkata for distribution at an upcoming tribal festival in Jharkhand. They also told the police that they were planning to visit the beach town of Mandarmani in East Midnapore district on Sunday and return to Kolkata the next day for shopping.
The MLAs flew to Guwahati on Friday, hours after reaching Kolkata by road, and returned to the city on Saturday morning, police said.
On the trip to Assam, Ansari has claimed that he went to Guwahati to talk to a school administration for his son’s admission but the other legislators could not provide any plausible explanation, CID officials said.
On Sunday, the Congress suspended the three MLAs from the party.
