Jharkhand Congress MLA Irfan Ansari arrested in Bengal says ‘victims of political conspiracy’

The Howrah police had arrested Irfan Ansari, Khijri legislator Rajesh Kachhap, and Kolebira MLA Naman Bixal on July 30 with around Rs 48 lakh cash in the vehicle they were travelling in. The police had said they had received specific inputs on July 28 that a ‘huge amount of money’ was being transported in a car after which the MLAs were detained and later arrested.

They were charged with criminal conspiracy, cheating, and sedition under the Preventions of Corruption Act and Representations of People Act. All three MLAs are currently out on bail granted by the Calcutta High Court. They have been suspended by the Congress party, which alleged they were linked to attempts to destabilise the JMM-Congress government in Jharkhand.

While speaking to The Indian Express over the phone from Kolkata, Ansari said, “One cannot topple a government with only Rs 40-50 lakh in cash”.

On July 29, Bermo MLA Kumar Jaimangal, who is also known as Anup, had lodged a complaint with the police, saying he was offered Rs 10 crore to topple the government in Jharkhand and that he was being called to Kolkata to receive the money after which they were supposed to go to Guwahati to meet BJP leader and Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma.

“Neither I have met nor spoken to Himanta Sarma. The government can check my call records. I have not even spoken to Anup in the last six months. So, how did I speak to him and Sarma?” asked Ansari.

#WATCH | Three MLAs of Congress from Jharkhand namely Irfan Ansari, MLA from Jamtara, Rajesh Kachhap, MLA from Khijri & Naman Bixal, MLA from Kolebira were nabbed by the police with huge amounts of cash. pic.twitter.com/VCH06cMr33

— ANI (@ANI) July 30, 2022

He added: “We had gone to Guwahati to secure admissions for our children in boarding schools and also to meet Adivasi students who were stuck there in the rain.” However, when asked which boarding school or college he was referring to, he could not remember the name.

Narrating the sequence of events, Ansari said: “After we were stopped by the police in West Bengal, we were told that our Jharkhand government gave information to the Bengal government that we had Rs 10 crore with us, which was completely false. We asked them to check and they found Rs 48 lakh which belonged to all three of us.”

“Next morning, we were let off, but later midway we were again stopped stating that an MLA had filed an FIR against us. We were again brought to the police station and arrested based on the allegations levelled in the Jharkhand zero FIR,” he added.

Ansari said that the money found in the vehicle, which belongs to him, was supposed to be used to buy blankets, sari, dhotis, and football jerseys among other things. “I have two petrol pumps and have a business.”

“We have been wronged. We are loyal workers of the Congress party. We are in minority: MLA Bixal is a Christian adivasi; MLA Kacchap is an Adivasi Sarna… We have core voters of Congress,” he added.

Ansari said the entire episode has taken a toll on their families. He said his mother suffered a ‘heart attack’ and another MLA’s father suffered a ‘brain haemorrhage’.

“We want to meet the Congress leadership in Delhi and tell them that we are loyal Congress workers and we also want to meet the West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and who gave her government false information that we Rs 10 crore with us…Who will be answerable to us on the charges levelled against us and sufferings that our families had to endure,” said Ansari.