The Indian Express (Delhi Edition)
Bengal BJP sacks Mahila Morcha chief arrested for ‘child trafficking’
BJP sees ‘TMC conspiracy’; CID says didn’t make public accused whereabouts in Nepal deliberately
THE BJP in West Bengal removed Juhi Chowdhury, a general secretary of the party’s state women’s wing, and her father from all posts in the organisation onwednesday,hoursafterherarrest in north Bengal for suspected involvement in a child trafficking racket.
The party, however, alleged that the arrest was a conspiracy of the Trinamool Congress government.
Trying to dissociate the sacking from Juhi’s arrest, BJP Bengal president Dilip Ghosh said: “The party’s image will continue togetaffectedifactionisnottaken against them. We have taken the decision not because of allegations made against them but for gross indiscipline in the party.”
Juhi was remanded in 12-day CID custody.
Her father Rabindra Narayan Chowdhury was removed from BJP state committee.
“The TMC is misguided if it thinks the BJP will be weakened through this arrest,” BJP state secretary Sayantan Basu said. He alleged that the CID had ignored “evidence” that points to purported political links of the accused with members of the ruling party, including Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
Calling it a “political conspiracy”, BJP national secretary Rahul Sinha said Juhi and her father would remain relieved from their posts until they get a judicial “clean chit”.
Juhi was named in the FIR, registered by the CID at Kotwali police station in north Bengal’s Jalpaiguri district, on February 19.
Sources said she went into hiding in an area about 10 km from the border — in Nepalese territory.
A CID officer with knowledge of the probe said they received information of her whereabouts on February 22 and tracked her to the India-nepal border area. While a team had been sent initially to Delhi to find her, there was no information from the national capital. The officer said the CID did not make public the information that Juhi had been tracked to the Nepal border area in a bid to “misguide influential people” helping her.
The officer said, “She stayed in touch with her father. On Monday, we were able to find her exact location in an area under Kharibari police station in Batasi (near the border in Darjeeling district). Two officers of the CID’S Special Operation Group were positioned .... They posed as priests to observe her movements from a temple nearby.”
On Tuesday, the officer said, it was confirmed that Juhi was at home and she was arrested.
According to CID officials, the investigation so far has revealed that Juhi had allegedly used her political identity to get funding and licences for an NGO that was found to be involved in the child trafficking case.
She has been booked under IPC Sections 370 (5) (offence involving trafficking of more than one minor) 420 (cheating), 467, 468 (forgery) 468, 120B (criminal conspiracy), 201 (evidence tampering) and various Sections of the Juvenile Justice Act.
Adg(cid)rajeshkumarsaid, “She won’t be brought to Kolkata — the interrogation will continue from north Bengal. She has been interrogated and will definitely disclose information with time.”
The BJP, meanwhile, is getting ready to raise the heat on the Saradha and Rose Valley fund scams. “Neither the Central government nor the BJP would have any deal regarding the chit fund cases,” BJP’S Sayantan Basu said, referring to the scams. Some TMC leaders are alleged to have been involved in the two scams.
Dilip Ghosh and Rahul Sinha had gone to Nizam Palace to meet CBI directors and urged them to speed up the investigation in the two cases.
The incident of naming Juhi in the trafficking case, however, has revealed fissures in the BJP’S state unit. Last week, Roopa Ganguly, the BJP Rajya Sabha MP and Bengal women’s wing president, had alleged Ghosh had advised her to make Juhi an office-bearer.
Since the FIR was registered, Ghosh had remained steadfast in his support of Juhi. Union minister Babul Supriyo had last Saturday questioned why Juhi was “hiding”, and Ganguly also asked who had “advised” her to “go into hiding”.
Ghoshhadcountereditcalling it a “conspiracy by the TMC government” to malign the BJP.