CBI conducts searches at premises of Mahua Moitra

 TMC sees ‘vendetta politics’, BJP hits back

PTI, New Delhi/Kolkata, Mar 23, 2024 :  CBI teams on Saturday conducted searches on the premises of former TMC MP Mahua Moitra in multiple locations in connection with the alleged cash-for-query case, officials said.

The searches took place at Moitra's residences in Kolkata, Krishnanagar, and Karimpur in West Bengal, they said.

The CBI team after completing its searches at Moitra’s rented residence at Krishnanagar, went to her Karimpur accommodation in the same district on Saturday night, they added. There they had to break open the lock to enter the house, an officer said, adding that the raid is still on.

Another team searched her apartment at Alipore in Kolkata, where Moitra's father Dipendra Lal Moitra resides. The search lasted for about seven hours before the CBI officials left.

CBI officers were accompanied by central forces when they raided the apartment in Alipore area in the southern part of the city.

The CBI registered an FIR against the former Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP on Thursday on the directives of the Lokpal, which has instructed the agency to file a report within six months, they said.

Moitra, who represented Krishnanagar Lok Sabha seat, was expelled from the House in December for "unethical conduct". The TMC has fielded her again from the seat.

The former MP has challenged her expulsion in the Supreme Court.

The Lokpal, the anti-corruption ombudsman, issued the directions to the CBI after receiving the findings of its preliminary inquiry into allegations made against Moitra by BJP MP Nishikant Dubey.

Dubey, a Lok Sabha member, alleged that Moitra had asked questions in the House in exchange for cash and gifts from Dubai-based businessman Darshan Hiranandani to mount an attack on industrialist Gautam Adani and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, among others.