A Bidhananagar court on Sunday sent Bengal BJP vice president Jayprakash Majumdar to three days police custody amid clamours of political victimisation of saffron leadership by the Mamata Banerjee Government.
The Court order comes a day after he was arrested by the local police for defrauding examinees of the State-held Teachers’ Eligibility Test examinations held in 2014.
Majumdar a vocal face in State BJP who was arrested after eight hours marathon grilling by the Bidhannagar police was sent to police custody by the Bidhannagar additional Chief Judicial Magistrate notwithstanding the prosecution demand for 7-day police remand.
He was arrested under Sections 420(cheating), 406(criminal breach of trust), 506(threat to cause death or grievous hurt).
Majumdar was arrested following a complaint filed by one Arup Ratan Roy who claimed that the BJP leader who was then in the Congress Party had taken Rs7.20 lakh from him assuring him of judicial help in the apex court and High Court.
The development came days after Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee threatened of retaliatory steps in “equal measures” when the CBI arrested senior Trinamool leader and MP Sudip Bandopadhyay for his involvement in the multi-crore Rose valley chit fund case.
“They are also running a Government in Delhi and we are also a Government here and both have their respective jurisdictions to act. So as they have acted in a vindictive manner we can also do the same” Banerjee had thundered then alleging Bandopadhyay’s arrest was linked to her party’s active role in the anti-demonetisation campaign alongside the Congress.
Roy’s complaint lodged in August 2016 said that when he was then leading a protest dharna against large-scale irregularities in the TET exams Majumdar approached him and demanded the money so that he could arrange for legal help.
“I collected the money from the other aspirants and paid him the same but when no help came and when repeated requests to Mr Majumdar to return the money met with threats I filed a complaint with the police,” said the complainant.
However denying reports of having accepted any money from the aspirants Majumdar said Saturday’s police action was the result of a vindictive politics played by the Trinamool.
“The person who has filed the complaint is an imposter and was not even a candidate in the exams. His name was not there in the merit list. So how can he file a complaint not being a party to the proceedings,” he said wondering “why the police are acting after five months after the complaint was lodged.”
Senior BJP leader Rahul Sinha said the arrest was a big demonstration of vindictive politics as “everyone knows why this step has been taken.” The CBI which arrested Sudip Bandopadhyay was investigating the case upon a Supreme Court order and “Jayprakash Majumdar was arrested following an order by the Trinamool Congress,” he maintained.
State BJP president Dilip Ghosh said “though Mr Majumdar was then in the Congress and though he has to prove his own innocence the reason behind his arrest is clear before everyone. They (Trinamool Government) are also trying to frame me in a murder case.”
The case relates to the much touted and controversial TET examinations held by the State Government in 2014 in which about 20 lakh aspirants appeared. Merely one percent of the total number of candidates qualified in the exams amid complains of large-scale irregularities leading to law suits both in Calcutta High Court and Supreme Court.