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BJP Bengal unit chief’s aide among two arrested with Rs 1 crore cash
Government Railway Police personnel arrested the two men from the Asansol railway station.
Two persons including a former personal assistant of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Bengal unit president Dilip Ghosh, were arrested from Asansol railway station on Sunday evening with cash of Rs 1 crore.
Ghosh’s former personal assistant Gautam Chatterjee is still connected with him. The other person to be nabbed was Lakshmikanta Shaw, a Delhi resident, who came to Bengal as a volunteer of BJP’s ‘Save Bengal’ campaign. Since the beginning of April, Shaw was camping in Midnapore Lok Sabha constituency from where Ghosh is contesting. Shaw was leading a team of volunteers.
According to Election Commission rules, after the model code of conduct comes into play, one can carry Rs 50,000 or more in cash, but should also carry supporting documents.
“The money belonged to the BJP and was to be used in the elections,” Shaw told TV channels in Asansol on Monday morning.
They were produced before a court in Asansol in Burdwan West district on Monday and remanded to four days of police custody.
Chatterjee is a resident of Shasan area in North 24-Parganas district, while Shaw is from Delhi. Since Dilip Ghosh became an MLA in 2016, Chatterjee was seen almost always with him, and was mostly based in Ghosh’s constituency in Kharagpur Sadar.
Responding to Chatterjee’s arrest, Ghosh said on Monday, “He used to work with me but now he is
engaged in other work. He is still with us but not directly working with me. However, we are in touch. I had no contact with him yesterday and will have to inquire about the incident to know what exactly happened, whose money it was and where was it going.”
Ghosh said he did not know Shaw.
“Too many conspiracies are being hatched around and no definitive comment can be made before we get to know further,” Ghosh added.
Government Railway Police personnel arrested the duo around 5:30 pm on Sunday.
According to officials who spoke on conditions of anonymity, Chatterjee and Shaw were standing on platform number 5. They were carrying a bag, but became fidgety when GRP personnel, who were on routine patrol, approached them.
When they were brought to the GRP office, cash was found in the bag, and they could not allegedly explain the origin of the cash.
