BJP Youth Leader Pamela Goswami, Arrested In Drugs Case, Accuses Party Colleague Of Conspiracy

Kolkata: BJP’s youth-wing leader Pamela Goswami, arrested in a drugs case, on Saturday demanded the arrest of party colleague Rakesh Singh, accusing him of conspiracy, and sought a CID probe into the matter.

Goswami, the state secretary of Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM), was arrested along with a friend, Pradip Kumar Dey, and her personal security guard from south Kolkata’s New Alipore area on Friday after around 90 gm of cocaine worth lakhs of rupees was allegedly found from her handbag and car, according to police.

“I want a CID investigation. BJP’s Rakesh Singh, the aide of Kailash Vijayvargiya, should be arrested. This is his conspiracy,” Goswami told reporters while being taken to lock-up from a city court.

Singh, a BJP state committee member, alleged that the ruling Trinamool Congress and the Kolkata Police were conspiring against him and have “brainwashed” Goswami.

He said that he has not been in touch with Goswami for more than a year and was ready to face any investigation.

“If I am involved, they can call me or Kailash Vijayvargiya or Amit Shah. I think the police have brainwashed her. I am not in touch with Pamela for more than one-and-a half-years now,” Singh told PTI.

“This can be that the Kolkata Police is following the Trinamool Congress’s instructions. They are conspiring against me. These are baseless accusations, and I am ready to face any challenge,” he added.

The Trinamool Congress said that the whole episode portrays the “true character” of the BJP.

“Earlier, one of their leaders was arrested for involvement in child trafficking. Now another one is arrested in the drugs case. This only proves what the BJP and its leaders are up to,” TMC’s secretary-general and state minister Partha Chatterjee said. — PTI

"No gentleman is associated with a party like the BJP. Only criminals, drug addicts and peddlers are associated with a corrupt party like the BJP," Firhad Hakim, a minister in the Mamata Banerjee cabinet, said.

Meanwhile, Kolkata police said they had been keeping a vigilant eye on both Goswami and her friend Prabeer following a complaint by her father in April last year.

In his letter to the city police chief Kaushik Goswami had alleged that Prabeer had turned Pamela into a drug addict. He had claimed Prabeer did not keep the promise he made to divorce his wife and get married to Pamela, while requesting police to "keep a watch" on his activities.

"We were keeping an eye on both of them and gathered information about their involvement in drug trafficking. We are questioning them and trying to find out who all are involved with them and whether they have links to inter-state or international drug rackets," a police officer said speaking on condition of anonymity.

Meanwhile, sources in the state BJP said Goswami was likely to be suspended from the party.

"Most likely the party will take some disciplinary action against her till she is proved innocent. This incident is damaging the party's reputation," a senior state BJP leader said.

Goswami had joined the BJP in 2018 and was quite active as part of the Bhartiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM).

In 2020, when Lok Sabha MP Saumitra Khan, a ruling TMC turncoat, was made West Bengal BJYM chief, she was appointed the state secretary and its observer for Hooghly district.