A month after a Superintendent of Police with the National Investigation Agency (NIA) was called to its Delhi headquarters following the TMC’s allegation that a BJP leader visited his house carrying cash in an envelope, the officer has now been purportedly sent back to West Bengal and asked to resume his duty.
Last month, in a memorandum to the Election Commission (EC), the Trinamool Congress (TMC) alleged that the BJP was misusing the NIA to target its political opponents. The party alleged that BJP member Jitendra Tiwari met an NIA SP rank officer at his residence on March 26. Along with its memorandum, the TMC submitted a copy of the visitor’s register at the SP’s residence with an entry allegedly showing Tiwari’s visit. The TMC claimed that Tiwari was seen entering with a packet in his hand and when he left an hour later, he was empty-handed.
A source said initially the officer was called to its Delhi headquarters where senior officers met him and questioned him about all the allegations levelled by the TMC. A DIG-rank officer was sent from Patna to West Bengal to supervise all the cases.
“Since his conduct was not malafide, he was asked to resume his duty and he was sent to West Bengal. He came to NIA from the BSF on deputation in 2014 and is also looking after the additional charge of the human trafficking unit in Delhi,” the source said.
On Friday, when The Indian Express reached out to the SP for comment, he disconnected the phone and did not respond to messages.
Last month, TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh, accompanied by Bengal minister Chandrima Bhattacharya, told a press conference that while entering a housing complex where the SP lives, Tiwari was carrying a white envelope containing money. The TMC alleged that he met the NIA SP for 52 minutes on March 26, and two TMC workers were arrested from Bhupatinagar on April 6 in connection with a 2022 blast case.
Tiwari rejected the charge and demanded an apology from the TMC. “If it is proved that we held any such meeting, then I will leave politics. Feeling the pressure, the TMC is trying to brand the NIA raid as a political conspiracy. According to the laws of our country, they (TMC) should prove the allegations against me. Apologise if you can’t prove it, or I will file a defamation case within seven days,” he said.