New Delhi: Pamela Goswami, the West Bengal BJP youth leader arrested Friday evening on charges of cocaine possession, was a model and air hostess before she joined the party in 2019.
Goswami, 23, had joined the party in the presence of West Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh and other top party leaders. In 2020, she was appointed as a state secretary of the Yuva Morcha, the party’s youth wing.
Immediately after the news of her arrest surfaced, West Bengal BJP leaders said they suspected this could have been “planted” but added that they want the law to take its course.
Goswami was allegedly carrying 100 gm of cocaine “worth lakhs of rupees” in her handbag, according to the New Alipore police.
Model, air hostess and actor
Goswami, a resident of South Kolkata’s Patuli had been trying her luck in modelling for some years when she eventually went on to become an air hostess, and also landed a few roles in Bengali TV serials.
After joining the BJP, Goswami has been active on social media, most recently uploading pictures having a meal with “a tribal family”.
An afternoon spent with a tribal family! Interacted with them, they shared their problems, we provided a possible solution out of it. We shared the benefits of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana, Ayushman Bharat’s schemes they are deprived of. pic.twitter.com/clneBNJres
— pamelagoswami (@PamelaGoswami8) February 1, 2021
“The entire family and neighbors were really happy getting us @BJP4India beside them. They assured us “Maa Ek Sathe Lorbo, Sonar Bangla Gorbo”, and that made my day!!,” she tweeted on 1 February.
She had also written a long social media post on the Rihanna-Mia Khalifa controversy, when the two celebrities spoke up on the farmers’ protests in India.
Goswami, in the post, termed Khalifa a “hired ISI agent to spoil image of Global Leader Narendra Modi Ji”.
— pamelagoswami (@PamelaGoswami8) February 3, 2021
Ever since the news of her arrest surfaced, opposition leaders have been sharing pictures of Goswami with various BJP leaders including Tejasvi Surya and Dilip Ghosh, among others.
Dear @navikakumar, waiting for you to leak Pamela Goswami's WhatsApp chats with these BJP leaders & expose the Drug Mafia inside BJP pic.twitter.com/hx8d6lWQ1M
— Srivatsa (@srivatsayb) February 19, 2021
Blames Vijavargiya’s aide
Soon after her arrest, when Goswami was produced in court, she blamed BJP West Bengal incharge Kailash Vijayvargiya’s close aide Rakesh Singh for her situation.
Singh, however, has denied the allegations and told ABP News that this is an attempt to tarnish the BJP.
According to news reports, the arrest is based on a police complaint by Goswami’s father back in April 2020, over drug possession allegations.
PTI reported that the police officers had been tracking her for some time, and on getting a tip-off, the New Alipore police station made the arrests when she was parking her vehicle in front of a cafe.
“She was involved in drug trafficking for quite some time. Today, we got information that she, along with her supplier Prabir, was reaching the spot to hand over the drugs to the purchasers,” a police officer said.
A team of policemen in eight vehicles surrounded Goswami’s car and apprehended her, along with her friend Prabir Kumar Dey.
The BJP youth-wing leader’s security guard, who was inside the same vehicle, was also arrested, the police officer said.
“An investigation into the matter is underway. We are trying to find out whether she is involved in any drug racket,” he said.
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Unfortunate that the Diva fell even before she could raise. I am not presuming that she is guilty. TMC government is capable of planting narcotics and making out a case. The point is that her political ambitions are more or less finished.