Bhopal, Oct 7 (PTI) The Congress on Monday sought the resignation of Madhya Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Jagdish Devda claiming he was close to a man arrested in the case related to seizure of mephedrone worth Rs 1,814 crore by the Gujarat ATS and NCB from a factory in Bhopal.
The BJP hit back with its state unit chief and Lok Sabha MP VD Sharma claiming the Congress was spreading lies and defaming Madhya Pradesh and its police.
On Sunday, Gujarat officials had said 907.09 kilograms of mephedrone, both in solid and liquid forms, worth Rs 1,814 crore were seized in a raid at a factory located in Bagroda industrial estate near Bhopal. The unit, which was busted on Saturday, had the capacity to manufacture 25 kg of MD drug per day, the Gujarat Anti Terrorist Squad said in a statement.
Three persons, identified as Amit Chaturvedi, Sanyal Baner and Harish Aanjana, have been arrested in the mega drug haul case, according to police. Aanjana was held on Sunday evening from Mandsaur.
Devda is six-time MLA from Malhargarh in Mandsaur district.
Addressing a press conference, MP Congress president Jitu Patwari, while waving pictures of Aanjana with Devda, said,” We demand the resignation of the deputy chief minister. This man held in the drug case was close to Devda. In his social media profile, he has put up 500 videos and pictures of himself with the deputy chief minister.” “He is a member of the (Bharatiya Janata) Yuva Morcha. I want to ask Prime Minister Narendra Modi and MP CM Mohan Yadav if they well seek resignation of Devda,” Patwari said.
After playing a recent speech of PM Modi in neighbouring Maharashtra in which he accused the Congress of having leaders linked to the drug business, a reference to the haul in Delhi, Patwari said a massive contraband racket flourished under the nose of the BJP, which has been in power in MP for more than two decades.
The Gujarat ATS and Narcotics Control Bureau carried out Saturday’s operation after planning it for one month but they did not keep MP police in the loop, Patwari claimed.
“Madhya Pradesh is not ruled by the BJP or CM Mohan Yadav but by mafias,” Patwari alleged.
Hitting back, MP BJP president VD Sharma said, “Patwari has shown photographs. In politics, anyone gets clicked with any person. The man (Aanjana) has no connection to the party at all.” Citing the Rs 5,600 crore drug haul in Delhi, Sharma said the main accused, Tushar Goyal, was the Congress’ Delhi RTI Cell president.
He said the drug haul in MP, which was carried out successfully due to coordination between MP police, Gujarat ATS and NCB, had caused a flutter in the Congress.
“Will intelligence agencies work after tipping off Patwari? There is no end to the lies the Congress spreads. Patwari is demoralising the police and defaming MP. He is lying by claiming MP police did not know about the action (by Gujarat ATS and NCB),” Sharma said. PTI LAL BNM
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