Mahua Moitra accuses BJP's Shantanu Thakur of issuing passes to smuggle beef, minister denies

Kolkata: TMC MP Mahua Moitra accused Union Minister Shantanu Thakur of "issuing passes" to "smugglers" on the India-Bangladesh border, an allegation that was dismissed by the BJP leader.

Moitra shared on X an image of a letter purportedly signed by Thakur and alleged that the union minister had facilitated "smugglers" for transporting "3 kg of beef".

"The Union Minister has printed forms on official letterhead for @BSF_India 85BN, issuing 'passes' for smugglers on the Indo-Bangla border. In this instance, it was to allow 3 kgs of beef," Moitra posted on the microblogging site on Monday.

Thakur, a prominent leader of the Matua community in the Bongaon Lok Sabha seat, said, "The allegation is baseless. It appears Mahua Moitra has made it a habit to level unfounded accusations."

"Why would someone smuggle only three kgs of beef? Isn't that absurd? She knows such passes are issued in border areas to ease local issues. She has deliberately concealed this fact," Thakur told PTI.

Moitra had on Monday also shared a post of Nilanjan Das, the general secretary of the TMC IT Cell, where he uploaded a video featuring a person named Jiyarul Ghazi in whose name the purported pass was issued.