BJP leaders accused of extortion, CID begins investigation

Two BJP leaders from Basirhat in North 24 Parganas have been accused of extorting a huge amount of money from the villagers with false assurances that they would be given preferences while allotting houses which will be built under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sarak Yojana

The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has started a probe in this connection. It has been alleged that around 25,000-30,000 poor people who were supposed to get a house at Basirhat and Taki areas of the district under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sarak Yojana have been duped. It has been suspected that anything between Rs 500 – Rs 1,000 was being withdrawn from the accounts of each beneficiary. It is believed that the accused might have made money of around Rs 2-3 crore with false promises of assurances.

The accused are Bikash Singh, a district leader of BJP and Ranjit Pal, a local BJP leader of Basirhat area. Now, it has become uncertain if the villagers will get a house under this scheme after the scam to light. Recently one Gouranga Sarkar, a local villager, lodged a complaint at Basirhat police station against the two BJP leaders on the basis of which, police registered an FIR against the two. The complainant came to know that the accused had extorted money from the villagers on false promises. After considering the seriousness of the incident, the district police handed over the case to the Special Operation Group of the CID who has started a probe on last Wednesday in this connection.

According to CID sources, the accused started extorting money from the villagers from 2016 with assurances that they would be provided with a house which will come up under the central scheme. The CID came to know that the accused used to collect money from the villagers with assurances that they would be given preferences while allotting houses which will be set up under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sarak Yojana. The local villagers who were duped by these people demanded stern action against them.