Lagatar24 Network
Ranchi, Dec 24: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday recorded the statement of Jharkhand Congress MLA Jaimangal Singh alias Anoop Singh in the Congress MLAs’ cash recovery case in his capacity as the complainant.
The JMM-Congress-RJD combine dubbed it a case of Operation Lotus of the BJP to topple the Hemant Soren- led government in Jharkhand when three Congress MLAs namely Irfan Ansari, Rajesh Kacchap and Naman Bixel Kongari were arrested in Kolkata by the Bengal police on July 30 along with Rs 48 Lakh case.
Jaimangal Singh later on filed a zero FIR at Argora police station claiming that he was offered Rs 10 Crore by these MLAs to join the BJP’s game plan. He further named BJP’s Assam CM as a key conspirator.
Later on, the ED took up this case and summoned him for questioning.
Jaimangal Singh reached the zonal office of the ED in Ranchi at 11 am today and his questioning continued till late evening.
The ED asked him that who else offered him Rs 10 crore to topple the government in Jharkhand. He was asked whether the offer was made over phone or physically and whether any token amount was given to him. He has been asked to share relevant evidences if anything available with him. The ED also confronted him with the statement he had given before the Bengal police.
The agency enquired whether after an offer of breaking the party was placed before him whether or not he had informed senior leaders of the party and what else actions were taken. In this context, the ED asked him whether in the past also he was approached for the purpose of poaching. He was also reminded about a case of similar nature when he lodged an FIR at the Kotwali police station in 2020. He was asked whether the Kotwali case and the recent case are interconnected.
The arrest of these Congress MLAs created an uproar. However, they accepted the cash belonged to them. But they insisted that it was their legitimate money which they were carrying to purchase saris for distribution among people. They were detained on July 30, only a day before when Jharkhand High Court advocate Rajiv Kumar was trapped and arrested for allegedly accepting Rs 50 lakh from Amit Agrawal to manage a PIL.
Jaimangal Singh claimed BJP’s Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma was controlling the operation lotus. He claimed that these MLAs wanted to take him to Guwahati to arrange his meeting with Himanta Biswa Sarma. Jaimangal Singh said that the MLAs told him that Himanta Biswa Sarma would give him assurance of a definite ministerial berth apart from the money. Jaimangal Singh said that he refused the proposal to topple the present government.
“I do not want to be part of this unconstitutional, illegal and downright criminal activity and hence informing you that you please take action against them who are stationed in Kolkata with token amount and pressuring me to come to Kolkata and accompany them to Guwahati,” Jaimangal Singh claimed in the FIR.
These MLAs were questioned in the police remand by the Bengal police. They later on got interim bail. The Congress dubbed it as a nefarious design of the BJP to topple the government and Jaimangal Singh came forward and claimed that he too was offered money. In the FIR, Jaimangal Singh has made such an impression that the Assam Chief minister was heading the alleged operation lotus to topple the government in Jharkhand.
Later on, the ED also took up this case for investigation and decided to summon him. The investigation of this case by Bengal police witnessed a series of showdown of Bengal police vis-a-vis Delhi police and the Assam police.
