Gujarat man's arrest in drugs case sparks political slugfest as Congress claims he is linked with BJP

Surat: A political slugfest has erupted between the BJP and Congress in Gujarat after the latter alleged that a man held in a drugs case in Surat was close to several top leaders of the ruling party, including Minister of State for Home Harsh Sanghavi and the party's state chief C R Paatil.

In its response, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said the drug peddler's arrest shows that police under the party-led government have zero tolerance on the issue of drugs and action will be taken against culprits irrespective of their political affiliations.

Based on a specific tip-off, the Surat police on Monday raided a hotel in Salabatpura area of the city and nabbed three persons and recovered from them 910 grams of mephedrone drug worth Rs 35.49 lakh, Surat Police Commissioner Anupam Singh Gehlot said.

The arrested accused were identified as Chetan Shahu, a resident of Udaipur in Rajasthan, and two men from Surat - Anishkhan Pathan and Vikas Ahir.

A preliminary probe revealed that Shahu, a drug supplier, came to Surat from Rajasthan to deliver the drugs to Pathan and Ahir, who sell the narcotic substance to drug addicts through their network of paan and ice-cream parlours in the city, Gehlot said.

When asked about Ahir's political affiliation, Gehlot said Ahir is known to be a history-sheeter and such people try to associate themselves with a political party or influential people to hide their illegal activities.

In a release, Surat police said Ahir already faces six different FIRs related to kidnapping, rioting and assault.

After Ahir's arrest, several Congress leaders, including Surat's Aslam Cyclewala posted several photographs wherein Ahir can be seen with Sanghavi, Paatil and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

He further claimed that Ahir has been working as Gujarat president of Yogi's Hindu Yuva Vahini since long.

In a Facebook post, the Gujarat Congress alleged that Ahir was a member of the BJP and sought to know if he used to give commission to senior BJP leaders sitting in 'Kamalam', the BJP's state headquarters in Gandhinagar.

In a statement, Gujarat BJP's media coordinator Yagnesh Dave claimed that Ahir's arrest proves that the BJP government does not spare anyone.

"For the BJP government, a criminal is a criminal, irrespective of his political affiliation. We never tried to shield anyone and that's why nearly 3,500 persons involved in the drug trade were arrested during the last five years in Gujarat," he said.

"By sharing these photographs, the Congress has proved that we have taken action against everyone. If a person is involved in a crime, we do not see his political affiliation before taking action and this case proves it," he added.