Pamela Goswami drug haul case: BJP leader Rakesh Singh arrested

Kolkata: BJP leader Rakesh Singh was arrested from East Burdwan's Galsi on Tuesday night for his alleged connection in the drug haul case. The arrest comes in the run-up to the arrest of BJP Yuva Morcha secretary Pamela Goswami earlier for allegedly possessing cocaine.

Singh was arrested during a naka-checking in the highway in East Burdwan when he was travelling in a car accompanied by CISF jawans and taken to Galsi police station. The arrest took place at around 8 pm when a team of six police officers from the Narcotics Cell of the city police's Detective Department were carrying out a marathon search operation for more than three hours at Singh's Ekbalpore house. His sons — Saheb and Subham — were also detained for allegedly obstructing the police from carrying out the search operation.

The Calcutta High Court too dismissed Singh's petition against the summons issued by the Kolkata Police in this connection stating that the cops are working as per the law.

Though initially, the police faced obstruction in carrying out the search operation at Singh's residence as his sons asked the police to furnish relevant documents and stated that Singh was in Delhi, later they opened the gate and CISF personnel also moved aside allowing the police to enter at around 5 pm after a long wait of around two hours.

The raid was conducted at Singh's house after he did not turn up for interrogation as Pamela had raised an allegation against him of hatching a conspiracy against her. Sources said Pamela's father had also approached the police against Singh and Prabir De, who was also arrested on Sunday, a year ago raising an allegation of attempting to trap his daughter in their racket.

The police are also suspecting Singh's serious links with the cocaine smuggling racket. The police have also got hold of the names of a few influential people after going through the WhatsApp chats of Pamela and some senior BJP leaders are likely to be questioned in connection with the case.

Police had tried to contact Singh over the phone but it was found switched off since 1.49 pm. The cops, however, received information that Singh was not in Delhi and was somewhere near East Burdwan. Accordingly, the state police were informed and naka-checking was carried out at strategic locations and subsequently, Singh was arrested. A team of the Kolkata Police has left for Galsi to bring him to the city.