KOLKATA: TMC MP Mahua Moitra accused Union Minister Shantanu Thakur of "issuing passes" to "smugglers" on the India-Bangladesh border, an allegation that was dismissed by the BJP leader.
Moitra shared a post on X of an image of a letter purportedly signed by Thakur and alleged that the union minister had facilitated "smugglers" for transporting "3 kg of beef".
Thakur, a prominent leader of the Matua community in the Bongaon Lok Sabha seat, said, "The allegation is baseless. It appears Mahua Moitra has made it a habit to level unfounded accusations." "Why would someone smuggle only three kgs of beef? Isn't that absurd? She knows such passes are issued in border areas to ease local issues. She has deliberately concealed this fact," Thakur told PTI.
Moitra had on Monday also shared a post of Nilanjan Das, the general secretary of the TMC IT Cell, where he uploaded a video featuring a person named Jiyarul Ghazi in whose name the purported pass was issued.