Pradip or Bhupendra Pradhan, the chairman of Gorkhaland Territorial
Administration Sabha who was
recently arrested for his alleged
involvement in a fake antique coin case, today apologised to the Gorkha
Janmukti Morcha chief Bimal Gurung and said he was falsely implicated in
the case.
Pradhan today came to Darjeeling and met Bimal Gurung. “I briefed him
(Gurung) about the details of the case. He scolded me and said that I
should not have gone to such a hotel. He told me that our party leaders
should always be careful in Siliguri,” he said.
“Regarding the March 4 incident, I want to say that I am embarrassed
by the turn of events. I want to apologise to my family members, my
supporters and the party. I was framed in the entire case. Even though
my name did not figure in the FIR, I was arrested,” said Pradhan.
Bhupendra, who is popularly known as Pradip Pradhan, was released on
bail by the additional chief judicial magistrate’s court in Siliguri
yesterday.
Pradhan was arrested in Siliguri on March 4, after a Jalpaiguri based
businessman, Ravi Kithania lodged an FIR stating that Sanjib Maitra of
Baghajatin Colony in Siliguri, and Sachin Biswakarma, from Gorubathan in
Kalimpong subdivision had duped him regarding the sale of an antique
coin. Bhupendra and eight others were allegedly introduced as
“associates.”
Pradhan said that he had gone to Siliguri to arrange railway tickets for 33 GTA Sabha members for the March 9 Delhi dharna.
“I met two Vidyarthi Morcha supporters in Siliguri and we had lunch
near Pintail village. The two started talking about opening a local
cable channel in Kalimpong and then to discuss the issue further we went
to a hotel. Then the police entered the hotel and started searching,”
said Pradhan.
He said it was only after his arrest that he came to know about the
issue. “After my arrest, the police brought a bowl like thing, which had
an imprint of East India Company in a glass case. Later, I was told
that some person had brought the item from Nepal. I am totally unaware
of the details.”
Police sources had earlier said the two youths with whom Kithania had
struck a deal had claimed that the coin was a “rice puller coin” minted
by the East India Company in 1818.
The Telegraph
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