Trinamool Congress leaders return rs 1.5 lakh ‘cut money’ to villagers amid protests

PTI, Jul 9, 2019, 10:00 AM IST

Burdwan: Facing protests from people, six local leaders of the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) in East Burdwan district Monday returned around Rs 1.5 lakh to 32 beneficiaries of government schemes. Villagers in the Ketugram area alleged these local TMC leaders took illegal commission from 45 beneficiaries of the government’s housing scheme at Shibloon village under Nabagram panchayat.

At a meeting held in the village recently, the accused leaders had assured the beneficiaries to return the illegal commission amount that they had collected. They returned Rs 1.5 lakh that they had taken from 32 beneficiaries, a local said. Admitting that they had taken “cut money”, the accused leaders claimed the money had been taken to run the party, not for personal purposes.

Alleging that the TMC-run Nabagram panchayat is full of corrupt members, BJP district secretary Anil Dutta said, “We will stage demonstration, if they do not return money to all the beneficiaries.” TMC MLA from Ketugram, Sekh Sahanawaz, accused the saffron party of hatching a conspiracy against TMC leaders. “People will give them a befitting reply politically,” he said.

The protests demanding return of ‘cut money’ rocked the state following Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee’s recent warning to the party leaders that those involved in taking cut money from government schemes and other corrupt practices would be put behind the bars.

Following this, TMC leaders at the municipal and panchayat levels have been facing public anger across districts in the state.

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