After suspended MLA from Congress Irfan Ansari, another suspended Congress MLA from Khijri Assembly Constituency, Rajesh Kachhap skipped appearance before ED sleuths on Monday. Citing some of his commitments, he has sought two weeks' time to appear before the ED.
Earlier, when the ED had called Jamtara MLA Irfan Ansari for questioning on January 13, he also did not turn up for questioning. He had sent his lawyer and sought two weeks' time. He sought time on medical grounds.
Kachhap has sought time for his personal reasons. Kachhap is currently in Delhi. However, on that side the ED has not yet taken any decision whether he will be given time or not. However, whenever Ansari and Kachhap visit the ED office, the ED will try to find out who took what initiative to topple the Government in Jharkhand and how much truth is there in this allegation.
The statement of MLA Anup Singh will be compared with the statement of the three MLAs. In this case, on Tuesday, Kolebira MLA Naman Vixal Kongadi was called for questioning. Now two MLAs have refused to go, so there is doubt even on Naman Vixal Kongadi going to the ED office. All the three MLAs have been summoned by the ED last week.
The ED had issued summons to the MLA asking him to appear at the regional office in Ranchi. Kachap was called at 11 o'clock in the morning.
Significantly, all the three MLAs were caught in Howrah on July 30 with Rs 49 lakh cash. The very next day, Bermo MLA Anoop Singh lodged a zero FIR at Argora police station along with Jharkhand Pradesh Congress Committee (JPCC)Chief, Rajesh Thakur. After which all three were arrested by the Bengal Police and sent to jail. Later on August 20, 2022, all three got bail.
However, after being caught, the MLAs had told them that their money was legitimate and that they had gone to buy Sarees for the women of their constituencies. They claimed that all the rupees belonged to the same item.
Notably, the ED later took over the investigation of the case and has already interrogated Congress MLA Jaimangal Singh.