Bengal BJP Vice President arrested for taking money from SSC candidates

Kolkata, Jan 15
BJP's West Bengal unit Vice President Jayprakash Majumdar was on Saturday arrested for allegedly taking money from School Service Commission candidates on the pretext of getting them jobs, police said.

Majumdar, however, said the arrest was "political" and based on "lies".

The arrest came after seven hours of intense grilling at the Bidhannagar North police station following a complaint by a candidate Arup Ratan Roy.

"He has been arrested because he took money from some of the SSC candidates and promised them help in getting jobs. He will be produced in court tomorrow (Sunday)," the Deputy Commissioner, Detective Department of Bidhannagar Commissionerate, Santosh Pandey told IANS.

Majumdar, also the spokesperson of the state unit of the BJP, has been booked under section 420 (cheating), section 406 (criminal breach of trust) and section 506 (threat to cause death or grievous hurt) of the Indian Penal Code.

According to the complainant, Majumdar met them during a protest demonstration by the SSC candidates and promised to help them in getting jobs by filing a case in the Supreme Court in return for money.

"Jayprakash Majumdar met us during a hunger strike we had organised near the School Service Commission office demanding jobs. He said give me around Rs 8-10 lakh and I will help you to get the job by filing a case in the Supreme Court. Later, we handed over Rs 7.20 lakh to him in two tranches.

"But when we met him after three months he completely denied taking any money from us," Roy said.

"When we asked him to return our money, he threatened us by brandishing a revolver and forced us to leave his office," he said.

Majumdar, a one-time senior leader of the Congress, quit the party and joined the BJP in September, 2014.

""It's all lies. There can be no reason other than political," Majumdar told media after his arrest.

His daughter said the arrest was a result of political vendetta.

"Respecting the law, my father came to the police station to reply to the allegations, but he was kept waiting for eight hours, then questioned for an hour, and finally arrested. This is political vendetta, nothing else. Somebody in the higher echelon is involved," she said.

Reacting to the arrest, state BJP chief Dilip Ghosh said even if Majumdar was involved in the case, it happened before he joined the BJP.

"Our party is in no way responsible for this," BJP's West Bengal unit President Dilip Ghosh said.

However, he called the development a ploy to malign the BJP.

"Jayprakash Majumdar is neither a lawyer nor does he run a law firm. Then why would the person give money to him for fighting a court case? This is a ploy to defame the BJP," he said.