One day after the kitty director and BJP leader Shivangi Tripathi was arrested, those who said they were duped of their money in the name of the kitty lottery were allegedly manhandled and threatened. It is alleged that when a Meerut resident Gagan, one of the victims of the fraud, was on his way to the court at Roshanabad to seek legal advice he was abused and roughed up by some goons hired by the fraudsters. In another such case, an alleged woman victim laxmi Mishra who had registered a case against Tripathi said she had been threatened by Shivangi’s husband. Her near ones appealed to the administration and police to provide her with security in view of the threat.
Police had arrested Shivangi Tripathi from Haridwar in connection with the kitty fraud on Sunday. After she was arrested, the district BJP had tried to wash its hands off her. The district BJP president Jaipal Singh Chauhan had said that she was just an ordinary party worker holding no post in the organisation. However, he had pleaded ignorance of any kitty party being run by her.
Notably, Shivangi Tripathi had allegedly collected Rs 5crore while running a kitty party in Haridwar. After those who invested in it had realised that they were duped they had approached police and demanded their money back following which an investigation was launched. Tripathi was arrested and produced in the court this Sunday from where she was sent to judicial custody. A case has been registered against her for forgery and cheating under relevant sections of Indian Penal Code. Importantly, another BJP woman functionary, Gurpreet Kaur had been earlier arrested in a similar case of kitty lottery close to a year ago. GIG banquet hall near Ranipur Mode from where the Kitty party was run has remained sealed.
Speaking of the matter, SHO Jwalapur police station, Amarjeet Singh, said that Tripathi had been running a kitty lottery under the banner of Kanha kitty group without permission. “She has been arrested and a case has been lodged against her on the complaint of some members of the group,” he added.
It is further learnt that police have so far booked 10 people, including six women, in the kitty case.