BJP’s Arjun Singh deposes before CID, alleges conspiracy to eliminate him

The former Barrackpore MP alleged he has learnt from reliable sources that ‘poisonous substances from Russia” may be used to eliminate him

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and former Barrackpore MP Arjun Singh, who was on Thursday (November 14, 2024) questioned by West Bengal police’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID), alleged that there was a conspiracy by his political opponents to kill him.

‘There are plans to eliminate me. If I suddenly die of a multi organ failure in the next six months then Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and CID should be held responsible,” Mr. Singh told journalists outside Bhawani Bhawan, the headquarters of West Bengal police.

The BJP leader was summoned by the CID in connection with alleged irregularities in the tendering process at Bhatpara Municipality in North 24 Parganas. The investigators are looking into a fraud of ₹four crore in the case. The former Barrackpore MP alleged he has learnt from reliable sources that “poisonous substances from Russia” may be used to eliminate him.

“We are under the protection of central security forces, so they cannot harm us physically in public. However, I have reliable information that I might be slowly poisoned during interrogation,” the BJP leader said.

Mr. Singh, is one of prominent political leaders with a significant support base in Barrackpore region. In the past few years he has frequently changed his political leanings- joining the BJP to contest 2019 Lok Sabha polls from Barrackpore and then returning to the Trinamool Congress after securing victory as a BJP MP. He joined the BJP again before the 2024 Lok Sabha polls when the Trinamool Congress denied him ticket. Mr. Singh, however, lost to Trinamool’s Partha Bhowmick in 2024.

Alleging political vendetta against him, Mr. Singh claimed that allegations of corruption against him are four years old and the agency only becomes active when he joins the BJP.

“As long as I am with the Trinamool, I am a good boy,” the BJP leader said. Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari also came in support of his party colleague and said that

Trinamool Congress leadership refuted the allegations and said that the BJP leader has turned jittery after summons from the CID. Somnath Shyam, Trinamool Congress MLA from Jagatdal said that “ there were some chemical imbalances” in the brain of the BJP leader.

The war of words also comes at a time when Bhatpara Municipality is on the boil over the murder of local Trinamool leader Ashok Shaw on Wednesday. The murder in broad daylight has once again brought to the fore the culture of political violence in the Barrackpore subdivision of North 24 Parganas district.

Published - November 14, 2024 10:01 pm IST