 leader Suvendu Adhikari and his brother Soumendu Adhikari have been booked for allegedly stealing relief material worth several lakhs from a municipality office in West Bengal's Purba Medinipur district.){kind=link}
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Suvendu Adhikari and his brother Soumendu Adhikari have been booked for allegedly stealing relief material worth several lakhs from a municipality office in West Bengal’s Purba Medinipur district.
An FIR has been registered at Contai Police Station on the complaint of Ratnadip Manna, a member of Kanthi Municipal Administrative Board, who has alleged that on May 29, Himangshu Manna and Pratap De took away a truckload of tarpaulin from the official godown of Contai Municipality.
The complainant has alleged that the act was the result of a criminal conspiracy led by Suvendu Adhikari and his brother Soumendu Adhikari. In the complaint, it was further stated that the alleged theft was carried out with the help of the Central Armed Forces.
On getting the information, when the complainant, along with other members of the Municipality, went to check the godown, they encountered Himangshu Manna. When asked, he stated that tarpaulins were taken as per the instructions of Suvendu Adhikari and Soumendu Adhikari, alleged the complainant.
Based on the complaint, Suvendu Adhikari, Soumendu Adhikari, Himangshu Manna and Pratap De has been registered under ‘Contai PS Case No. 198/21 dt 1.06.21 u/s 448/379/409/120B IPC r/w 51/53 Disaster Management Act 2005’. As of now, Suvendu Adhikari has not reacted to the developments.
Earlier, the Trinamool Congress had been charged of siphoning off relief material by BJP, but this time, BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari and his brother have been booked on exactly the same charge.
Meanwhile, police have arrested Pratap De and taken on police remand for further interrogation. The relief materials taken by the accused persons were distributed in cyclone-affected areas in Nandigram, as per sources.