West Bengal CID summons BJP MP Arjun Singh for questioning in economic offence case

The alleged economic offence was committed when Singh was a Trinamool Congress (TMC) legislator. The Barrackpore BJP MP has been asked to appear before EOW Cell, CID on May 25 at 11 AM.

KOLKATA: The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the West Bengal Police has summoned Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Lok Sabha member Arjun Singh in connection with an old economic offence case.

The alleged economic offence was committed when Arjun Singh was a Trinamool Congress (TMC) legislator. The Barrackpore BJP MP has been asked to appear before EOW Cell, CID on May 25 at 11 AM.

#Breaking: BJP MP Arjun Singh summoned by CID in connection with an alleged economic offence case. He has been asked to appear before EOW Cell, CID on May 25 at 11am. pic.twitter.com/dESiUzWxEg

— Pooja Mehta (@pooja_news) May 20, 2021

The first information report (FIR) was lodged on July 28, 2020, more than a year after Singh wrested the Barrackpore Lok Sabha seat from the TMC’s then incumbent MP Dinesh Trivedi who has also joined the saffron camp.

When quizzed if he would visit the CID office, Singh said that he will decide after consulting his lawyers. The state police had earlier raided the residences of Singh and some of his relatives in connection with the case.

In August last year, police raided Arjun Singh’s home in connection with the case which allegedly involves financial irregularities to the tune of Rs 11 crore at Bhatpara municipality and a local cooperative bank.

Singh was chairman of the Bhatpara municipality from 2010 to 2019. He left the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and joined the BJP in March 2019. He also headed the bank’s board.

It may be noted that the Mamata Banerjee government is at loggerheads with the Centre over the CBI action against senior TMC leaders in Narada sting operation case.

Recently, Trinamool Congress leaders and cabinet ministers Firhad Hakim and Subrata Mukherjee, MLA Madan Mitra, and former Kolkata Corporation Mayor Sovon Chattopadhyay were arrested by the CBI in a five-year-old Narada sting operation case

On May 18, Mitra and Sovon Chatterjee were rushed to SSKM hospital after they complained of breathlessness. Violence erupted outside the CBI’s Kolkata office after Mamata Banerjee sat on dharna to protest the arrest of four of her Trinamool Congress leaders.