BHUBANESWAR/DHENKANAL: President of the Biju Janata Dal and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday suspended former MLA Nabin Nanda from the party following his arrest in connection with a ‘condemnable’ incident in Kolkata. The Chief Minister suspended Nanda on the basis of information received about his ‘condemnable action’, State secretary of BJD Bijay Nayak said. While Nanda was already out of favour with the party, this embarrassing incident provided the BJD supremo an opportunity to axe him.
Nanda, though, protested his innocence and termed the action as a conspiracy against him. “I am a victim of an unfortunate situation and in no way involved in immoral act. The BJD has been distancing me for years now due to a conspiracy hatched in party circles. I have not been invited to meetings in the district and outside. And now, I have been suspended,” he said.
The former MLA of Dhenkanal was arrested on Saturday from a spa, allegedly fronting for a brothel, in Park Street area of Kolkata. According to sources, Kolkata police busted a sex racket being run from the spa on June 30 and 18 persons including Nanda were arrested. They included nine sex workers, three customers and manager of the brothel. “All the persons have been booked under specific charges and a probe is being conducted at Beniapukur police station,” sources said quoting Kolkata police. Nanda has admitted to have been arrested by police.
“I had gone out for shopping around 7 pm on Saturday when my mobile phone and wallet were pick-pocketed. I was chasing the man when he ran into the spa. After I followed him into the premises, police caught me on suspicion that I was a customer. As I had no mobile phone, I could not contact my family members,” he told the media. Claiming that he had “no intention” of visiting the spa, Nanda said he will take legal recourse against his arrest. Nanda’s family said he had gone to Kolkata on Thursday and was set to return on Sunday.
He was in touch with them till Friday. But, they could not contact him on Saturday as his mobile phone was switched off. Since Nanda did not return on Sunday morning, his son flew to Kolkata in the afternoon and filed a complaint with the Shakespeare Sarani police station. He was later traced.
