Bengal BJP in hot water: CID finds connect between BJP woman leader & child trafficking racket

After the Bengal Crime Investigation Department (CID) found links between Bengal BJP's Women's Wing leader Juhi Choudhury and a child trafficking racket in Cooch Behar, the party has been in a rather uncomfortable position.

The CID has already lodged an FIR against Chandana Chakraborty, the chairperson of North Bengal People’s Development Centre (NBPDC) which operates around 100 state-run homes, and were involved in the child trafficking racket. 

On Monday, the CID received footage which showed that Choudhury went to the North Block in New Delhi along with Chakraborty to meet one of the Central ministers of the Union Home Ministry. The purpose was to renew the license of the centres.

This has created quite an uproar inside the BJP headquarters which claimed that the All India Trinamool Congress (AITMC) is using the CID to play vindictive politics.

According to BJP National Secretary Rahul Sinha, utter frustration and political vindictiveness is making the AITMC try and establish links between BJP leaders and child trafficking.

“We will protest against such political vindictiveness of the state government,” added Sinha.

The Bengal CID, after going through various documents came to know that around 17 children – aged between 3 months to 10 months – were sent off to other states of India and also to countries like France, USA and Singapore.

It has also come to CID's notice that not only from Cooch Behar, but children have been trafficked from other NBPDC homes in Jalpaiguri and Siliguri as well.

A senior CID official said, “We expect to arrest the kingpin by interrogating Chakraborty as the racket has already flourished in other districts as well.”

The NBPDC has set up homes in Jalpaiguri, Siliguri, Cooch Behar till now. According to CID officials, the NGO used to target unmarried mothers and bought newborns from them. Later those babies were sold off to childless couples in other states for large amounts of money.

Partha Chatterjee, the minister in charge of parliamentary affairs, said, “The BJP’s wish to form the government in Bengal will be shattered as this party is involved in all kinds of corrupt activities. The law will take its own course.”

Edited by Jhinuk Sen