Jharkhand Congress MLA Irfan Ansari arrested in Bengal says ‘victims of political conspiracy’
Jamtara MLA Irfan Ansari, one of the three Congress MLAs from Jharkhand who has arrested in July with Rs 49 lakh in cash, on Tuesday said he and two other MLAs are “loyal Congress workers who are victims of political conspiracy”. There are more. Being trapped by middlemen.
On July 30, Howrah police arrested Irfan Ansari, Khijri MLA Rajesh Kachhap, and Kolebira MLA Naman Bixal with around Rs 48 lakh in cash in the vehicle they were traveling in. The police had said that they had received specific information on July 28 that a “large amount of money was being carried in a car” following which the MLAs were detained and later arrested.
He was charged with criminal conspiracy, cheating, and sedition under the Prevention of Corruption Act and the Representation of the People Act. The three MLAs are presently out on bail granted by the Calcutta High Court. He has been suspended by the Congress party, which alleged that he was involved in attempts to destabilize the JMM-Congress government in Jharkhand.
Speaking to The Indian Express over the phone from Kolkata, Ansari said, “No government can topple a government with only Rs 40-50 lakh in cash”.
On July 29, Bermo MLA Kumar Jaimangal, who is also known as Anup, complained to the police, saying he was offered Rs 10 crore to topple the government in Jharkhand and that he was being called to Kolkata to receive the money after which they were supposed to go to Guwahati to meet BJP leader and Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma.
“Neither have I met or spoken to Himanta Sarma. Govt can check my call record. I haven’t even spoken to Anoop for the last six months. So, how did I talk to him and Sarma?” asked Ansari.
He said: “We had gone to Guwahati to take admission in boarding schools for our children and to meet tribal students stuck in the rain.” However, when asked which boarding school or college he was referring to, he could not remember the name.
Describing the sequence of events, Ansari said: “After we were stopped by the police in West Bengal, we were told that our Jharkhand government informed the Bengal government that we have Rs 10 crore, which is completely wrong. was. When we asked him to check, he got Rs 48 lakh which belonged to all three of us.
“Next morning, we were released, but later in the middle, we were again stopped saying that an MLA has lodged an FIR against us. Based on the allegations made in the Jharkhand Zero FIR, we were again brought to the police station and arrested.
Ansari said that the money found in the vehicle was to be used to buy blankets, saris, dhoti, and football jerseys among other things. “I have two petrol pumps and I have a business.”
“Injustice has been done to us. We are loyal workers of the Congress party. We are a minority: MLA Bixal is a Christian tribal; The MLA is Kachhap Adivasi Sarna… We have core voters of Congress.
Ansari said the entire episode has taken a toll on their families. He said his mother suffered a ‘heart attack’ and another MLA’s father had a ‘brain hemorrhage’.
“We want to meet the Congress leadership in Delhi and tell them that we are Congress loyal workers and we also want to meet West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and who gave false information to her government that we have Rs 10 crore with us. Who will be… accountable for the allegations leveled against us and the sufferings our families face,” Ansari said.
