Kailash Vijayvargiya grilled in child trafficking case

KOLKATA: The West Bengal CID questioned BJP national secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya for two hours in Indore on Monday in connection with an alleged child trafficking case.

According to CID, a summons for Vijayvargiya was first issued on July 20, 2017. He filed a petition in the Indore High Court seven days later seeking to quash the charges against him. The HC allowed CID to question him in Indore but asked it to refrain from coercive action.

CID claimed it had carried out the questioning based on three important evidences collected during the probe — one, a diary, purportedly maintained by co-accused NGO owner Chandana Chakraborty, and recovered from her brother Mainak Bhowmik later) about her direct connections with “influential people” and her eventual plan to rope in Juhi Chowdhury (co-accused and BJP leader) to bag a Rs 22.5-lakh grant from CARA (Central Adoption Resource Authority); two, a piece of audio evidence purportedly recording the conversation between Chowdhury and Vijayva-rgiya about the racket; and three, the revelations made by Chakraborty herself.

CID sources said they quizzed Vijayvargiya on what transpired in Delhi on February 2, 2017 after Chowdhury and Chakraborty travelled to the capital in the hope of meeting a Union minister. The sleuths are also mulling re-recording the statement of Roopa Ganguly on whether she had played any role in planning this trip through Chowdhury.

“We had questioned BJP leader Roopa Ganguly earlier. There was a need to record his (Vijayvargiya’s) statement, too. Hence, we went to Indore, where he cooperated with us,” said a top CID official.

Besides Ganguly, the notice under Section 160 CrPC had also been sent to Vinayak Mishra and Prashant Sareen, considered close to Vijayvargiya. It was Vijayvargiya’s PA Sareen whose conversation with Chowdhury forms the basis of this case.

Speaking to TOI on Tuesday, Vijayvargiya alleged that it was a political conspiracy by the Trinamool Congress government, which wa-nted to intimidate him. “Th-ey have come to Indore with a set of questions. It seemed that it was to harass me. The court had said they can question me in Indore but restrained them from any coercive action against me. CID came following the court order,” said Vijayvargiya.

“It seems this is a political vendetta by the Mamata Banerjee government. I never thought a party can stoop to such lows in politics. They want to create pressure on me so that I leave Kolkata and Bengal. But I am not afraid of them. I have been a minister for 12 years and a general secretary of the party,” Vijayvargiya added.


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