BJP leader held with Rs 56L

Sharma, who contested the election in April-May on a BJP ticket but came third with 18% votes, fought from Ranigunge in Burdwan district. File photo

Manish Sharma, a BJP candidate in the state Assembly elections earlier this year, was arrested on Tuesday with around Rs 56 lakh in new notes of 2,000 denomination. Police officers said that Sharma was arrested along with some others, who are reportedly members of the local coal mafia. 

Sharma, who contested the election in April-May on a BJP ticket but came third with 18% votes, fought from Ranigunge in Burdwan district. While the seat falls under the Asansol Parliamentary constituency, where the sitting MP is Babul Supriyo of the BJP, Sharma is reportedly close to him. The party, however, refused to take responsibility for Sharma and claimed that he was expelled in July. The police claimed that Sharma was laundering money using his contacts within the local coal mafia. Ranigunge is an area with most coal reserves in Bengal and has been infamous for a thriving coal mafia‎. 

‎Sharma had run into trouble even before elections when Shakeel Ansari, erstwhile president of the state BJP minority cell, accused him of “managing a ticket using his political clout”. Ansari brought allegations against both formal state BJP president Rahul Sinha and the incumbent Dilip Ghosh, for distributing tickets to people with money.