Agartala, April 24: Two leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in South Tripura, Nitish Debnath (Suman) and Subhrajit Patari, have been booked for extortion following a complaint from a local contractor.
The police have registered a case against the BJP Yuva Morcha president and secretary, respectively. No arrests have been made yet.
Anupam Das, Officer in Charge of Santirbazar PS, stated that both leaders have been booked under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 341 (wrongful restraint), 384 (extortion), 387 (putting a person in fear of death or grievous hurt to commit extortion), and 506 (criminal intimidation).
The police seized a vehicle, laden with construction materials, from their possession that they allegedly took from the contractor on April 10.
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According to reports, a gang led by Subhrajit and Suman has been extorting money from businessmen and contractors in different localities of the district for the last few years.
They have allegedly been collecting subscriptions from opposition supporters and harassing the female members of their families.
The contractor, Goutam Chowdhury, filed a complaint after Suman and Subhrajit demanded money from him since the BJP-led government was elected for a second term. They allegedly took away his truck, which was headed towards the Indo-Bangladesh border in Sabroom.
BJP president Rajib Bhattacharjee declined to comment on the allegations and said that he was not aware of such incidents. He added that if anyone gets involved in any illegal activity, the law would take its own course, and the party has no role in it.
The accused leaders have appeared before the investigating officer after receiving a notice and are cooperating with the investigation. The police are continuing their inquiry into the matter.
