Extortion racket: BJP MLA, hostel super summoned by cops
Times of India | 29 December 2024
123 Kolkata: Shakespeare Sarani police has summoned BJP's Cooch Behar (South) legislator Nikhil Ranjan Dey and superintendent of Kyd Street MLA Hostel Sushanta Mondal to question them on how a hostel room booked in the name of an MLA was used to run an alleged extortion racket.
On Dec 26, police had arrested three persons — including main accused Junedul Haque Chowdhury — for trying to extort Rs 5 lakh from Kalna Municipality chairperson Ananda Dutta using the name of Trinamool general secretary Abhishek Banerjee. Police have seized the register book of the MLA hostel.
Kolkata police commissioner Manoj Verma told reporters: "We took timely action and stopped the fraud. The main accused has been arrested. Investigations are on to ascertain in detail how the accused entered the MLA hostel."
An email has been sent to Dey, asking him to appear before police within the next three days, said sources. The MLA said, "If I receive any letter, email or phone call, I will definitely cooperate for the sake of the investigation. This is a sensitive issue. I also need to know who booked the room using my name and letter. The security of other legislators is also involved here. I haven't even heard the names of the arrested individuals. I didn't recommend anyone's name. Yet, how was the booking done in my name?"
While Trinamool spokesperson Kunal Ghosh refused to comment on the issue, Bengal BJP general secretary Agnimitra Paul on Saturday said that the incident was "nothing but political vendetta".
(With inputs from Rohit Khanna in Kolkata)
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