Referring to an audio tape which surfaced on Sunday, BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari slammed West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee and TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee, alleging that they were involved within the coal smuggling case within the state.
The audio tape carries the recording of a purported conversation between an unidentified person and Ganesh Bagaria, an aide of Anup Majhi who is an accused within the coal pilferage scam.
The Indian Express didn’t independently verify the content of the audio tape and will not confirm its authenticity.
Alleging that TMC leaders received up to Rs 900 crore by dishonest means over 10-12 years, Adhikari at a news conference said, “The TMC and therefore the Chief Minister are directly involved within the coal scam. The CM’s nephew is closely associated with Ganesh Bagadia who has serious allegations against him. Another ally of the nephew, Bikash Mishra, has already been arrested. cops and IPS officers are all also involved within the case. we would like the central agencies probing the case to hurry up the investigation.”
Denying the allegations, TMC said that BJP leaders were engaging during a smear campaign to urge faraway from the very fact that they were facing an inevitable defeat within the polls.
Senior TMC leader and state minister Subrata Mukherjee said, “The audio tape has not been examined during a forensic laboratory and it’s not been established who are the persons they’re talking about. Moreover, the tape has not begin within the open directly. BJP leaders are claiming that they need received it. So, we don’t know whether it’s been made up to malign our party’s image during election.”
He added, “They know alright that they’re losing this election. By bringing our such alleged tapes they’re trying to mislead the people and shift the eye of the people from real issues.”
