Kolkata, Nov 4 (IANS) Three Trinamool Congress MLAs have alleged that they are being threatened with arrest in the name of the central investigation agencies. All three of them filed a complaint with the police on Tuesday, said sources in Trinamool Congress.

It is alleged that three public representatives were tricked into extorting money by a call from Mumbai posing as Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officials. They were allegedly threatened with arrest when they did not fall for the trap. The police have started an investigation into the matter based on their complaint and after registering an FIR.

It is learnt that Gosaba MLA Subrata Mandal, Baruipur Purba MLA Bivas Sardar and Sonarpur Uttar MLA Firdousi Begum had received such threats over the phone from several places in Maharashtra, including Mumbai.

In the complaint filed with the Baruipur district police, Bivas Sardar has written that he was pressured to pay a large sum of money after one person called him over the phone from the CBI office in Mumbai. When he did not agree, he was sent fake bank transaction records. It mentioned that the TMC MLA gave Rs 3 crore to a person named Sadaqat Khan, who is associated with a militant organisation.

It was further said that the MLA can be arrested for that crime. The MLA claimed that such allegations are completely false. “The ED and CBI have conspired to unnecessarily implicate me in sedition and tarnish my image. I have filed a complaint with the police,” said Sardar.

Similarly, it is alleged that Firdousi Begum and Subrata Mandal also received fake calls and emails in the name of CBI and ED. The MLAs said that they have been repeatedly accused of being involved in some immoral activity and threatened to implicate them in false cases. In this regard, all three MLAs from the South 24 Parganas district have filed an FIR with the police.

“We have received complaints from the MLAs. They are being looked into. An investigation has started based on their complaints,” said a senior officer of Baruipur police district.

The Trinamool Congress has repeatedly alleged that the BJP-led government at the Centre is using the central investigation agencies against their party leaders due to political vendetta. The ruling party believes that such allegations by the three Trinamool MLAs are a reflection of that conspiracy.

–IANS

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