Calcutta HC rejects arrested Jharkhand Congress MLAs’ plea for case transfer to CBI

Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court on Thursday turned down a petition filed by three arrested Jharkhand Congress legislators pleading that the investigation of their case be transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation or some other independent agency.
However, the high court has permitted the West Benga police’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to continue its probe into the case. That relates to lakhs of money being recovered from a car carrying the three Jharkhand lawmakers in Howrah district.
The three Congress legislators – Jamtara MLA Irfan Ansari, Khijri MLA Rajesh Kachhap and Kolebira MLA Naman Bixal – were nabbed on Sunday, a day after the recovery of cash amounting to Rs 49 lakh on National Highway-16 at Ranihati in West Bengal’s Howrah district.
The MLAs, and two other persons, including the vehicle driver, were taken into custody after they could not provide satisfactory answers to questions about the reason for carrying the huge cash.
The case, initially handled by the Howrah rural police, was later handed over to Howrah rural police.
On Wednesday, the three lawmakers filed an urgent plea praying that the case be handed over to the CBI or some other central agency. (UNI)