Opposition leader and CPI(M) state secretary Jitendra Chaudhury heavily targeted the Chief Minister over the unchecked corruption, disproportionate assets, and scandal issues involving two retired IAS officers.
Addressing a press conference at his official chamber at the Tripura Legislative Assembly on Friday, flanked by MLAs Sudip Sarkar and Nayan Sarkar, Opposition Leader Jitendra Chaudhury alleged that while thousands of posts remain vacant in the state, there is no employment for the youth. Every day, thousands of young men and women are crossing the employment age limit and becoming unemployed, yet the state government remains in a deep slumber.
Chaudhury claimed that it is a matter of utter surprise that the Chief Minister’s Office has reappointed Pradip Kumar Chakraborty—who is accused in corruption and disproportionate asset cases—as many as eight times so far. Similarly, the Chief Minister’s Office has reappointed Aninda Kumar Bhattacharjee, who is also accused of corruption, seven times. Jitendra Chaudhury alleged that the involvement of both Pradip Chakraborty and Aninda Bhattacharjee in various scams has come to light publicly through RTI (Right to Information) data.
Chaudhury questioned that while the Chief Minister keeps propagating transparency, why is he maintaining a mysterious silence regarding this matter?
Chaudhury stated that RTI data reveals a mountain of wealth belonging to Pradip Chakraborty. He mentioned that PK Chakraborty has a house worth nearly 2.5 crore rupees in Abhoynagar. Along with that, he owns beautiful flats in Kaman Chowmuhani, Bidurkarta Chowmuhani, Banamalipur areas of Agartala, and Gariahat in Kolkata. A teak plantation spanning several ‘kani’ of land is also registered under PK Chakraborty’s wife name in Champamura, on the outskirts of Agartala. How could a government official become the owner of such massive wealth? When such questions arise regarding wealth disproportionate to income, an immediate investigation should have been launched, saids Chaudhury.
However, it was seen that instead of taking that path, the Chief Minister’s Office chose to reappoint this official.
Chaudhury further alleged that Aninda Kumar Bhattacharjee is one step ahead when it comes to scams. Aninda Babu is currently the Special Secretary of the GA (P&T) Department. Recently, he spent around 64 days outside the state. Shockingly, while this official was outside the state, he withdrew 4,000 rupees daily from the state treasury by generating illegal bills. Aninda Bhattacharjee is also the Director of Vigilance. Allegations and rumors are afloat that due to his misdeeds, the SP of Vigilance now wants to take retirement from the service.
Chaudhury also alleged that during his tenure as the Director of Fire Services, Aninda Bhattacharjee purchased 9 drone cameras worth approximately Rs 1 crore under the name of the SDRF fund. However, no existence of these drone cameras could be found. Furthermore, there are allegations of looting government funds in the name of repairing fire service vehicles in the Barjala area. No investigation has been conducted in this regard either. On the contrary, the government reappointed Aninda Bhattacharjee 7 times.
The opposition leader remarked that the taxpayers' money is being looted in this manner.
Chaudhury raised the question: why are these two corrupt officials so favored by the Chief Minister? Where are the ED and CBI now?