TMC demands unbiased & speedy probe in cattle smuggling case
kolkata: Stating that Trinamool Congress (TMC) has 'zero-tolerance' towards corruption, the party leaders on Thursday demanded 'speedy and unbiased probe into the cattle smuggling case'. It was also announced that the party's youth and students' wings— Trinamool Youth Congress and Trinamool Chhatra Parishad—will stage demonstrations across the state on August 12 and 13, demanding an impartial probe by the central agencies against the leaders of opposition parties.
While addressing a joint press conference, Chandrima Bhattacharya, Trinamool Mahila Congress president, and Samir Chakraborty categorically stated that the party would not support anyone allegedly involved in corruption. "All India Trinamool Congress never encourages illegal activities. We have come to power with the support of the people. It is the people's belief in Mamata Banerjee that has made her a three-time Chief Minister. She has mentioned that AITC will not support those who do injustice to the people of our land," the leaders said.
Bhattacharya said it was unfortunate that the central agencies had lost impartiality and were working for the BJP to fulfill its political vendetta. She claimed that the BJP was using ED and CBI to intimidate opposition leaders in states, where the saffron party is not in power.
"We demand an unbiased investigation in the case. However, we see that ED, CBI or any other central government agency, have lost their impartiality and credibility. These investigative agencies have become political tools to corner members of opposition parties, and ignore the accused leaders belonging to the BJP," they claimed.
"When the Chief Minister of Assam Himanta Biswa Sarma was in Congress, there had been several cases against him. But all those cases have been dropped after he joined the BJP," Bhattacharya said. "We expect similar treatment by ED and CBI for all those belonging to the ruling party as well. There are several allegations against BJP leaders, but nothing is happening to them. Himanta Biswa Sarma's name was, in fact, also taken by Jharkhand MLAs but no action has been taken against him by CBI-ED," they added.
Referring to the Jharkhand Congress MLAs' cash haul case, the Trinamool leaders said: "A thorough investigation is needed to see what the Jharkhand MLAs were doing with bundles of cash in their car. We don't even know who the main culprit is, or the source of the money. We hope that CBI and ED show the same eagerness as is the case, but it is not to be. This clearly shows the collusion between the agencies and the ruling party in the Centre." "The neutrality of the agencies is lost, which is why these are also losing the federal structure of the country. Our police forces have been stopped from investigating cases in other states, where the police are under the control of the BJP government. It proves that these investigative agencies have become a tool in the hands of the Modi government, to harass the leaders of the opposition parties. Only celebrating Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav will not help. It is the duty of our Prime Minister to safeguard the federal structure of our country," they said.
Samir Chakraborty said the ED should immediately arrest the senior officials of BSF and Customs as without their help no cattle smuggling is possible. "One wonders how these cattle are smuggled across the border. What are the BSF officials doing? Isn't the BSF under the Home Ministry? What about the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence? All borders have Customs, which are under the Union Ministry? ED should summon them too, for the sake of free and fair investigation," he asked.
"In Maharashtra, it is said that the BJP had given Rs 50 crore to the Shiv Sena MLAs to topple the government. What is the ED doing in Maharashtra?" he asked, adding "Why is the ED not questioning the source of the money?" he asked further. "We have seen how Bengal's Leader of Opposition, Suvendu Adhikari, who is embroiled in plenty of scams, has been let-off by the investigative agencies. The main accused in the Saradha scam, Sudipta Sen, has mentioned that he had given money to Adhikari, a day before being arrested. However, no interrogation has been done by CBI or ED. Even his brother, Dibyendu Adhikari, removed important papers pertaining to the scam, but he has never been questioned," the TMC leaders said, adding that the BJP was trying to cripple Bengal and consolidate their place before the 2024 election. Bhattacharya, who is a senior lawyer of the High Court, said: "We have full faith in the judiciary. With due respect to the Court, Honourable Justices may take judicial notice of many things that are happening." Speaking about the arrest of TMC leader Anubrata Mondal, the leaders said the future of the former in the party would be decided in due course of time by its disciplinary committee.
