Kolkata: The West Bengal Police’s Anti-Corruption Branch Thursday said it has started a case against Leader of Opposition Surjya Kanta Mishra’s wife Usha Mishra and his nephew Sudip Mishra for forgery, cheating and misappropriation of funds related to an anti-AIDS project following complaint by the state health department.
“A case has been started at the Anti-Corruption Branch CB police station on March 9 on the complaint of the state health department.. against four accused,” said an ACB release.
The charges include cheating, criminal breach of trust, forgery for purpose of cheating, criminal conspiracy under the Indian Penal Code and related provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, the release said.
The four accused named are Usha Mishra, Sudip Mishra, Bina Das and Kartik Acharya of the Baromohanpur Bhagabati Devi Nari Kalyan Samity (BBDNKS).
The allegations are “forgery, cheating and misappropriation of funds received from West Bengal State AIDS Prevention and Control Society during the period of 2007-2011”, the release said.
Surjya Kanta Mishra, a Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) politburo member, was the health minister in the state’s left Front government during the said period.
“The investigation has been started to find out the total amount misappropriated and the involvement of others,” the release said.
ACB personnel had raided the NGO in Beldanga of West Midnapore district Wednesday. Usha Mishra had dubbed it an attempt to tarnish her husband’s image, while the CPI-M urged people to protest against the “mean conspiracy”.
In a statement, the CPI-M said that earlier a non-bailable case was slapped against Surjya Kanta Mishra’s daughter, while his brother – a former college principal – faced a similar action.
“These incidents are nothing but mean conspiracies to tarnish the image and harass comrade Mishra.
“It would not be irrelevant to say that the Trinamool Congress and the government have adopted this disgusting path in the backdrop of the Central Bureau of Investigation sending a letter seeking details of Trinamool’s income and expenditure accounts,” the CPI-M statement said.
Incidentally, the case has been filed after the CPI-M politburo member questioned the integrity of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee over the multi-crore-rupee Saradha scam in which many of the state’s ruling party leaders have been arrested and interrogated.
“Those who roam around you are not clean but are your hands clean? The chief minister has no answer to this,” Surjya Kanta Mishra had said during a party rally on Sunday.