‘Family trading in marijuana since my childhood’: Bengal BJP leader after arrest

The BJP leader accused his party of conspiring his arrest and said the Trinamool Congress had no role in this

KOLKATA: A Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader in West Bengal’s Howrah district created a stir on Sunday by claiming that his family has been trading in marijuana since he was a child and accused his party of conspiring his arrest the day before.

The BJP leader said he had stopped the marijuana business after his wife was elected as a BJP panchayat member in the 2018 rural polls but started again to meet some debts. (Representative Image)

“My father used to trade in marijuana since I was a child. My two brothers and I subsequently took over the business to run our families. That’s how I paid for my daughter’s education,” Nimai Roy, vice-president of the BJP’s farmers’ front (Kishan Morcha) at Sankrail in Howrah district told the media on Sunday while he was being taken to court.

“I stopped the business after my wife was elected as a BJP panchayat member in the 2018 rural polls but started again to meet some debts. The BJP hatched a conspiracy to get me arrested. Trinamool Congress has no role in this,” he added.

Charged under Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, Roy was remanded in police custody. His wife, panchayat member Rupa Roy, avoided the media. HT has seen a copy of the first information report (FIR).

A district police officer said on condition of anonymity that Roy and two alleged associates, Satyadhar Sahani and Anwara Begum, were arrested on Saturday after the detective department seized 41 kilos of marijuana from Roy’s residence.

The TMC targeted the saffron camp on social media by releasing photographs purportedly showing Roy with BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar, former state president Dilip Ghosh and leader of the opposition in the state legislative assembly, Suvendu Adhikari.

“We urge the police to conduct a probe against these BJP leaders as well. Why was a man who deals in narcotics made a leader by the opposition party?” TMC state general secretary Kunal Ghosh said.

The BJP made no attempt to defend Roy.

“Seizure of marijuana in huge quantities is a regular affair in Bengal. The police should investigate how the trade has flourished during the TMC regime with chief minister Mamata Banerjee in charge of the home department as well,” said Bengal BJP’s chief spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya.