KOLKATA: Arrested BJP leader Juhee Chowdhury, suspected to be involved in a child trafficking racket in West Bengal, has mentioned the names of some "influential political personalities" during her grilling, a CID source said on Thursday.
"Juhee is presently being interrogated about her alleged involvement in the child trafficking racket. She has mentioned the names of some influential political personalities during interrogation which we cannot reveal right now for the sake of the investigation," a CID officer said.
The officer also confirmed that Chowdhury would be interrogated together with prime accused Chandana Chakraborty for clarity in the case.
"We would interrogate them together as well as separately as we need the corroboration and contradiction from both of them," he added.
Chowdhury, a former leader of Bharatiya Janata Party's woman wing (mahila morcha) in West Bengal's Jalpaiguri district, was arrested by the state police's Criminal Investigation Department on Tuesday night from Batasia area close to the India-Nepal border in Darjeeling and was sent to 12 days CID custody on Wednesday.
Following the court order, the BJP removed her from the post of the state secretary of the Mahila Morcha (women's wing), saying her activities have harmed the party's image.
According to the sources, Chowdhury fled to a relative's house in Nepal for a few days to escape from the state investigating agency before returning to the village near the Indo-Nepal border.
CID sleuths are also looking for her father Rabindranarayan Chowdhury, a local BJP leader who looked after Juhee's financial transactions.
Chowdhury's arrest came after Chandana Chakraborty, arrested in connection with the scandal earlier, blamed her for wrongdoing and accused the young BJP leader of negotiating with the political heavyweights in Delhi about her child adoption centre.
"Juhee assured me she would sort out all the issues. She might have talked to (BJP leaders) Roopa Ganguly and Kailash Vijayvargiya. I was sitting in a separate room. We are innocent. We will definitely help in the investigation," Chakraborty alleged. Both Ganguly and Vijayvargiya have rubbished the charges.
The state BJP leadership, which conceded that the party was "under some discomfort" after the young leader's arrest, said it would not take her side if she is found guilty.
"There is no denying the fact that her arrest has caused us some discomfort," said former BJP state President Rahul Sinha.