VIJAY DEO JHA
Ranchi, Aug 20: Jharkhand Congress MLA Irfan Ansari has alleged West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for implicating him and two other Congress MLAs in a false criminal case for petty political gains.
Irfan Ansari said this on Saturday while emerging out of the jail along with two other Congress MLAs after Calcutta High Court granted them three months of interim bail.
Irfan Ansari along with Rajesh Kacchap and Naman Bixel Kongari was arrested at Howrah on July 30 along with Rs 49 lakh cash. The Bengal police claimed that these MLAs were part of a conspiracy to topple the Hemant Soren-led government in Jharkhand. The police further claimed that high-profile political persons from Assam were involved in alluring the Congress MLAs to destabilize the government in Jharkhand.
“We the MLAs are innocent and the money belongs to us. we came to Kolkata to purchase sari and football for distribution among people on the occasion of World Tribals Day. We have Congress blood in our veins and we can’t join the BJP,” Irfan Ansari said.
“I want to tell Mamata Banerjee that the way we were falsely implicated made us feel bad. I have a lot of respect for her. We were implicated for political gains. I belong to the Muslim community whereas Naman Bixel Kongari is a Christian priest and Rajesh Kacchap is tribal. The BJP doesn’t suit us. Tell me can three MLAs pull down any government,” he said.
The Calcutta High Court granted provisional bail directing them not to leave Kolkata and said that they must ensure their presence before the investigative officer of this case every week. The court ordered to release them on furnishing sureties of Rs One Lakh each. The High court also ordered to transfer their case to the MP-MLA court where the trial will be conducted.
