Bengal: BJP's Suvendu Adhikari, brother booked for stealing relief material
The West Bengal Police has registered an FIR against Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Suvendu Adhikari and his brother Soumendu for allegedly stealing relief materials worth several lakhs, reportedly distributed in cyclone-hit areas. The FIR was registered at the Contai Police Station in East Midnapore on the basis of a complaint from Ratnadip Manna, a Member of the Board of Administrators of Contai Municipality.
According to the complaint, on May 29, Himangshu Manna and Pratap De took a truckload of tarpaulin from the Contai Municipality's official godown. When the complainant, along with other Municipality members, encountered Himangshu Manna, the latter said he was working on the Adhikari brothers' orders, added the complaint. The complaint—filed on June 1—also claimed the Central Armed Forces were involved in the alleged theft.
The Contai Police registered a complaint under IPC Sections 448 (house-trespass), 379 (theft), 409 (criminal breach of trust by public servant), and 120B (criminal conspiracy) read with Sections 51 and 53 of the Disaster Management Act, 2005, the India Today reported. De has been taken into police custody and placed under arrest. Reportedly, the stolen relief material was distributed in cyclone-affected areas in Nandigram.
The BJP has repeatedly accused the ruling Trinamool Congress in West Bengal of siphoning relief material. Suvendu Adhikari was formerly a Cabinet Minister in Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's government till November 2020, defecting to the BJP the following month. He is now the Leader of the Opposition in the state Assembly. He had also defeated Banerjee from the Nandigram seat by roughly 1,200 votes.
Earlier on Saturday, Suvendu Adhikari's close aid, Rakhal Bera, was arrested in a fake job scam. Bera was arrested based on a complaint filed by one Sujit Dey. He was accused of taking Rs. 2 lakh along with his accomplice Chancal Nandi on the false promise of providing a job to the complainant in the Irrigation and Waterways Ministry in 2019.
