3 Jharkhand Congress MLAs held in West Bengal with huge amount of cash

An SUV in which MLAs Irfan Ansari, Rajesh Kachchap and Naman Bixal Kongari were travelling was intercepted on National Highway-16

Three Congress MLAs from Jharkhand were stopped in West Bengal's Howrah district by the police on Saturday evening after a huge amount of cash was found in their vehicle, a senior officer said.

Acting on a tip-off, the SUV in which MLAs Irfan Ansari, Rajesh Kachchap and Naman Bixal Kongari were travelling was intercepted on National Highway-16 at Ranihati in Panchla police station area, she said.

"We had specific input that a huge amount of money was being transported in a black car. We started checking the vehicles, and intercepted this SUV in which three Jharkhand MLAs were travelling. A huge amount of cash was found in the vehicle," said Swati Bhangalia, the superintendent of police of Howrah (Rural).

"Cash counting machines are being brought in to ascertain the total amount. The MLAs are also being questioned about the source of the money and where it was being taken to," she added.

Besides the MLAs, there were two other persons in the SUV, which had a board mentioning "MLA Jamtara Jharkhand" along with the Congress's election symbol, police said.

Ansari is the MLA of Jamtara, while Kachchap is the legislator of Khijri in Ranchi district, and Kongari is the MLA of Kolebira in Simdega district.

Congress's Jharkhand spokesperson Rajiv Ranjan Prasad said the party will comment only after getting the details of the incident.

Jharkhand's ruling JMM spokesperson Supriyo Bhattacharya told PTI, "The party will be able to talk about its stand on the issue tomorrow."

The opposition BJP's Jharkhand president Deepak Prakash told PTI that Congress MLAs should explain where did they get such a huge amount of cash.

Meanwhile, the ruling Trinamool Congress of West Bengal claimed the recovery of cash was made amid murmurs of horse-trading and the possible toppling of the JMM-led Jharkhand government.

"Amidst murmurs of horse-trading and the possible toppling of the Jharkhand Govt. 3 @INCJharkhand were found carrying huge sums of cash to Bengal. What is the source of this money? Will any Central Agency take suo moto cognizance? Or do the rules apply to a select few? (sic)" the TMC tweeted.

Jharkhand's Independent MLA Saryu Roy, who had defeated former chief minister Raghubar Das to bag the Jamshedpur East seat, asked the Congress to clarify whether the MLAs were returning to Jharkhand with cash or travelling to some other state from Jharkhand.

"Where is the source of money -- Assam, Bengal or Jharkhand?" he asked.

West Bengal minister Sashi Panja demanded a thorough investigation into the matter.

"ED, are you taking a note or the matter is not grievous enough? Machines were brought in to count a huge amount of cash found in a vehicle in which three Jharkhand MLAs were travelling," she said, alluding to the central agency's investigation into the huge amount of cash found at properties linked to arrested West Bengal minister Partha Chatterjee.

Sources said the Howrah Rural Police was tipped off about the vehicle by the West Bengal CID.

This recovery comes amid the seizure of a huge amount of cash at properties linked to Chatterjee, who is being investigated in the school jobs scam.

Crores of rupees in cash were found in apartments of his aide, Arpita Mukherjee, besides gold believed to be in kilograms, documents of properties and foreign exchange, forcing the TMC to suspend him and take away his ministerial portfolios.