BJP MLA Krishna Kalyani joins TMC, fifth legislator to switch over
Kolkata, Oct 27: Raiganj's BJP MLA Krishna Kalyani joined the Trinamool Congress on Wednesday.
Kalyani is the fifth BJP legislator in West Bengal to join the TMC after winning the assembly elections earlier this year, in a major setback to the opposition party.
He is the former North Dinajpur district president of the TMC who joined the BJP ahead of the assembly elections and was fielded from Raiganj.
Kalyan, who has been at odds for quite some time with former Union minister Debasree Choudhury over running the BJP's affairs in the North Dinajpur district, was welcomed to the TMC by its secretary-general and senior state minister Partha Chatterjee.
"No self-respecting person can work freely in the BJP," Kalyani told reporters at the TMC headquarters here.
He said he was also upset with the "anti-people policies" of the Centre, which has not taken a single step to check spiralling fuel prices.
"I was increasingly thinking that I cannot be a part of BJP anymore. If I had not spoken in favour of Mamata Banerjee's welfare policies before the assembly polls, I had made a mistake that I want to correct now," he said.
"If someone wants to do good work as an MLA he is not allowed to do that in the BJP," he alleged.
Reacting to the development, BJP state President Sukanta Majumder said Kalyani should explain that how he suddenly "woke up" to the policies of Mamata Banerjee.
"Kalyani will get a befitting reply from the people of Raiganj in the future," Majumder said, adding that he joined TMC to serve his personal interest.
Kalyani had quit the BJP earlier this month but did not resign as an MLA.
Earlier, BJP's Krishnanagar Uttar MLA Mukul Roy, Bishnupur MLA Tanmay Ghosh, Bagdah MLA Biswajit Das and Kaliaganj MLA Soumen Roy joined the TMC, besides Asansol MP Babul Supriyo.
The MLAs are yet to resign from the assembly or to be disqualified under the anti-defection law, while Supriyo has put in the papers.
BJP had won 77 seats in the assembly elections with two of the legislators -- Dinhata MLA Nisith Pramanik and Santipur MLA Jagannath Sarkar -- later resigning to retain their MP seats.
TMC had won 213 seats in the assembly elections in April-May and bagged the Samserganj and Janipur seats earlier this month, taking its tally to 215 in the 294-member House.
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ED arrests Sandeepa Virk, 'cosmetologist' for alleged money laundering
New Delhi, Aug 13 (PTI): The Enforcement Directorate said on Wednesday it has arrested a woman, who claims to be an actor and a cosmetologist, under the anti-money laundering law in a case of alleged fraud and misrepresentation.
The agency said the purported links of the woman, Sandeepa Virk, with a Reliance Group executive, Angarai Natarajan Sethuraman (President, Corporate Affairs), are also under its scanner. Sethuraman, in a statement, denied any connection with Virk or any transactions related to her.
Virk was taken into custody under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) on Tuesday after searches were conducted against her and her associates in Delhi and Mumbai over the last two days.
A special court sent her to the ED's custody till August 14, the agency said. The woman claims to be the owner of a skin care products selling website named hyboocare.com, which the ED claimed was a "front" for money laundering.
She and her associates are being probed for allegedly exerting undue influence through "misrepresentation" and "defrauding" individuals by soliciting money under false pretences.
According to an Instagram ID of Virk, she is an actor and entrepreneur and the founder of the said website.
The federal agency said in a statement that the woman was also "in touch with" Sethuraman, former director of erstwhile Reliance Capital Limited.
She was communicating with him regarding "illegal liaisoning", the ED claimed, adding that the searches at Sethuraman's residence "confirmed" these allegations.
"Besides, diversion of funds for personal benefit has also been unearthed during the course of the search action," it said.
The ED alleged that public money worth about Rs 18 crore belonging to Reliance Commercial Finance Limited (RCFL) was disbursed to Sethuraman in 2018 by "flouting" prudent lending norms.
The funds were lent under terms that allowed a deferment of the principal amount as well as the interest, with multiple waivers granted and no due diligence conducted, it said.
The ED claimed that besides this, a home loan of Rs 22 crore was provided by Reliance Capital Limited by "violating" the prudential norms. "A large part of these loans are seen to have been eventually siphoned off and remained unpaid," it alleged.
Sethuraman, in a statement, dismissed the allegations as "baseless". He denied any connection with Virk or any transactions related to her.
Detailing about Virk's web portal, the agency said it purportedly sold FDA-approved beauty products. However, the ED said the products listed on the website have been found to be non-existent and the portal lacks a user registration option and is plagued by persistent payment gateway issues.
A scrutiny of the website uncovered minimal social-media engagement, an inactive WhatsApp contact number and an absence of transparent organisational details, all of which reinforce the finding of "non-genuine" commercial activity, the ED claimed.
"These factors, including limited product range, inflated pricing, false claims of FDA approval and technical inconsistencies, indicate that the website serves as a front for laundering funds," it said.
Another social media-hosted bio data of the woman said she is a certified cosmetologist.
The ED said several "incriminating" documents were seized during the searches and the statement of a man named Farrukh Ali, stated to be an associate of Virk, was recorded.
The money-laundering case stems from an FIR lodged by the Punjab Police.
Sethuraman said that the home loan he received from Reliance Capital was granted following due process and was secured by the property offered as collateral.
