Arrest BJP MP for nexus with pro-Maoist businessmen, says Congress

[Singh]

Opposition Congress on Tuesday demanded arrest of a ruling BJP MP and an MLA from the Bastar region accusing them of having "close association" with two businessmen who were recently arrested for acting as Maoist couriers and raising funds for insurgents.
"Kanker Lok Sabha MP Sohan Potai and Antagarh MLA Vikram Usendi have close relations with arrested businessmen Neeraj Chopra and his uncle Dharmendra Chopra. They (BJP leaders) should be arrested and interrogated," Pradesh Congress Committee chief Bhupesh Baghel told reporters in Raipur.
Accusing the BJP government of suppressing the issue, he said there is need to investigate what kind of relationship existed among the senior BJP leaders and arrested businessmen.
The Chhattisgarh police had arrested eight Maoist couriers recently, including Kanker-based businessmen Neeraj Chopra and Dharmendra Chopra who were allegedly involved in procuring funds for the insurgents.
Dharmendra Chopra who was arrested from Raipur airport while trying to flee on Friday night, is said to be connected to high profile personalities of the state.
Attacking the BJP, Leader of Opposition T S Singhdeo demanded enactment of a new law on the lines of the recently passed Lokayukta and Lokpal Act 2013 in the state.
"The present structure of the Lok Ayog in the state has failed to curb increasing corruption here. Therefore, a new law at par with the recently passed Lokayukta and Lokpal Act 2013 needs to be enacted," Singhdeo said.
However, rejecting charges by the Congress about an alleged nexus between arrested Maoist conduits and ruling BJP leaders, senior BJP leader Sachchidanand Upasane said senior Congress leaders should refrain from levelling such baseless charges.
"The state chief of a national level party (Bhupesh Baghel) should not make such statements without any evidence. Such statements are not in the interest of the state which is fighting hard to wipe out Maoism," Upasane said.
Taking on Congress over the Lokpal issue, Upasane said everybody knew the "drama" by Congress and its allies while discussing the Lokpal Bill in Parliament and how the party got the bill passed right ahead of the Lok Sabha elections for political advantage.

Arrest BJP MP for nexus with pro-Maoist businessmen, says Congress

 

[Singh]

Businessman with Maoist links arrested near Raipur airport


He was travelling in BJP MP's car

On Friday, the Chhattisgarh police arrested Dharmendra Chopra, a prominent businessman, near the airport here as he was rushing to catch a Delhi flight.

Thereafter the police claimed that a "massive urban network" of Maoists was detected. Chopra and his nephew Neeraj, who was arrested the previous day, were allegedly looking after the financial and logistics interests of the Maoists in the State.

The police said they were facilitating supplies of consumables to the Maoists, delivering lakhs of rupees to other States to fund purchase of weapons and allegedly "fixing deals" between mining companies and Maoist leaders. Interestingly, Dharmendra Chopra was arrested while he was travelling in the vehicle of Kanker MP Sohan Potai.

Chopra's access to political parties and the Maoists was an open secret in Chhattisgarh. Several police officers told The Hindu on many occasions that Chopra was connected to the BJP brass and the Maoists. However, they never disclosed any evidence because of his connections across party lines.

Chopra used to boast about his connections to the Maoists. "Earlier, they [Maoists] used to give me money to deliver goods. I used to deliver consumables and adjust with the amount like other businessmen in the area," he told The Hindu earlier. However, he said, he stopped supplying goods to the rebels and moved to Raipur from his home town of Bhanupratappur in north Bastar soon after they threatened him.

Additional Director-General of Police (Intelligence) Mukesh Gupta said the administration wanted to send out a message to Maoist sympathisers through these arrests. "We will break this nexus that has become another power structure controlling mining or local politics to virtually everything in rural areas"¦ We will probe the nature of wealth growth and find out the source," he said.

However, Mr Gupta was tight-lipped, asked whether Chopra's political clout had prevented the police from arresting the prominent members of Chhattisgarh's business community earlier. "There was absolutely no political pressure and no one called me regarding these arrests," he said.

Mr. Potai did not deny that he knew Chopra. "I know him well and interact with his family. I visited his house earlier. But every one [in Bhanupratappur] knows him, so you can't single me out. However, I do not know if he was arrested in my vehicle as I reached the airport and left Raipur," Mr Potai told The Hindu on the phone from New Delhi where he is attending the BJP's two-day national council meeting.

He also objected to the manner in which another accused, Sukhnath Nureti from Purundi, was arrested. "The police have picked him up in the most brutal manner, entering his house." But the police said Nureti was a key intermediary of the rebel leader of north Bastar, Balmurli Narayan Rao alias Prabhakar. "Anyone keen on meeting Rao had to go through Nureti, including the Chopras," police sources said.

Besides Chopras and Nureti, five others have been arrested in the past one week.

Businessman with Maoist links arrested near Raipur airport - The Hindu

 

[anoop_mig25]

business men n pro-moaist .that must be greatest oxymoron