Gautam Chattopadhyay, personal assistant of West Bengal Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Dilip Ghosh, was arrested on Sunday evening from Asansol railway station in West Burdwan district.
Chattopadhyay, along with two other persons – were arrested after they failed to answer police queries on the reasons for possessing Rs 1 crore in cash. One of the other two arrested persons has been identified as Laxmikant Shaw, a BJP youth wing leader.
The three persons were apparently in a train that had stopped at Asansol railway station. Police found them on the platform carrying a bag and moving about suspiciously. When their bag was checked, police found Rs 1 crore in cash and they were promptly arrested by the Government Railway Police (GRP) when they gave contradictory statements.
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Sources said that Shaw has told the police that it was party fund and was being taken to Kolkata. He has also been seen saying this on local television channels. Chattopadhyay however, has not said anything about the money.
The BJP has denied the party’s involvement in this and said that the Trinamool Congress was behind it. A probe in on to unearth the source of the money and the reason for carrying the cash. BJP leaders have said that Chattopadhyay was the BJP chief’s former personal assistant, while some have disclosed that he is in charge of Dilip Ghosh’s party work in the Kharagpur area.
Just prior to the election in Ghatal, BJP’s candidate Bharati Ghosh was found carrying Rs 1.13 lakh in cash. However, she said that the police had framed her, and a candidate was allowed to carry Rs 50,000. Ghosh said the remaining cash was being carried by the other people in her vehicle and police had added up everything and made it appear that she alone was carrying it.
Ahead of the final phase of election, the arrest of a close aide of the party’s Bengal chief is being seen as a major embarrassment for the BJP.
