Former chief minister and leader of opposition, Manik Sarkar said the arrest of former deputy speaker and senior CPI-M leader Pabitra Kar under Prevention of Corruption Act is a ‘political vendetta’ against his party members.

Based on a vigilance inquiry report, a case was lodged at Bodhjungnagar police station against Kar under the Prevention of Corruption Act, by Jeremia Darlong, deputy superintendent of vigilance on July 2(Friday).

Sarkar on July 4(Sunday), said that fake charges were booked against his party leaders intending to lower the opposition party’s strength who are raising a voice against the misconduct of the BJP-IPFT government.

“It is clear that the case framed against Pabitra Kar is a political vendetta to harass him. He was summoned by those who framed the charge against him. He visited their office and submitted the details he was asked. There is no problem. He will face it and cooperate during the investigation,” Sarkar said.

In the year 2019, the deputy opposition leader and former minister Badal Choudhury along with the former chief engineer Sunil Bhowmik and former chief secretary YP Singh were alleged of a scam of Rs 600 crore.

The police could not provide an additional report and charge sheet to the West Tripura district and sessions court and all three of them were granted bail after 90 days in judicial custody.

New Capital Complex sub-divisional police officer (SDPO) Priya Madhuri Majumder stated that the vigilance department has initiated a probe against the former vice-president. “It has been found that the property is inconsistent with his income. The amount of property is more than his income. So, the vigilance filed a case with Bodhjungnagar police station on Sunday.

He said the case would add section of the Prevention of Corruption Act. Moreover, crime branch will take over the case. The property of Pabitra Babu had increased between 2004 to 2018, he said.

All the allegations of inconsistent sources of income were dismissed by Kar and informed that the vigilance investigation started a year ago. “I have responded to their call twice. I have said everything they wanted to know without hiding anything. There was no word of investigation for six months. So I thought maybe the investigating officers were satisfied with the information I gave. But, now I have heard that the case has been filed again. As a result, it is not possible to take any action right now without seeing the certified copy,” Kar said.

All information was submitted to the election commission during contesting in the Assembly elections. He claimed that his primary source of income was from allowances during his term as a minister and MLA and now from pension.

“I also have a good income from ancestral property. There are rubber plantations and paddy lands. From there I have submitted the account of income in the income tax return. I am an all-time worker of the CPIM party. I have never done a government job. As a result, the full account of the income has been submitted to the income tax,” Kar added.

“The CPI-M will benefit if they arrest me. Because they would not be able to prove the corruption and it will increase people’s sympathy,” he added.