3 Jharkhand MLAs arrested in Bengal cash haul sent to 10-day police remand

Court has sent the three Jharkhand Congress MLAs, who were arrested in the Bengal cash haul, to a 10-day police remand.

The Howrah district court has sent the three Jharkhand Congress MLAs, who were arrested in the Bengal cash haul, to 10-day police remand.

The West Bengal Police on Saturday arrested MLAs Irfan Ansari, Rajesh Kachchap, and Naman Bixal Kongari from Howrah after finding a huge amount of cash in their SUV. Police said the cash amount is around Rs 48 to 50 lakh but did not give the exact number.

Also read: Congress suspends 3 Jharkhand MLAs caught in Bengal cash haul

"We got a specific input on the basis of which we stopped the car. Three MLAs from Jharkhand were in the car and we found a lot of cash inside. We had to ask for a counting machine because of the volume of cash. We will be able to tell how much cash was recovered only after full counting is done," SP Rural Howrah Swati Bhangalia told India Today.

Also read: 3 Jharkhand Congress MLAs held with mountain of cash

Ansari is the MLA of Jamtara, while Kachchap is the legislator of Khijri in Ranchi district, and Kongari is the MLA of Kolebira in Simdega district.

Hours after their arrest, Congress distanced itself and suspended the three MLAs. The general secretary and party in-charge of Jharkhand Congress, Avinash Pandey, said, "The three MLAs, who were held with a mountain of cash yesterday, have been suspended from the party with immediate effect."