House can’t be blamed for acts of a few black sheep, says Govt

Steering clear of the action to be taken against MPs named for their alleged links in human trafficking cases...

Steering clear of the action to be taken against MPs named for their alleged links in human trafficking cases, the Government today said a meeting called by the Lok Sabha Speaker will decide on what needs to be done and the entire Parliament cannot be blamed for the acts of a few “black sheep”.

“I do not want to comment on the issue. For a few black sheep, an institution called Parliament cannot be blamed and respectable members of Parliament should not be blamed,” Parliamentary Affairs Minister P R Dasmunsi said, adding that the police were already investigating BJP MP Babubhai Katara’s alleged involvement in human trafficking following his arrest on Wednesday.

Pointing out that Speaker Somnath Chatterjee has convened a meeting of leaders of political parties on Wednesday, Dasmunsi said, “…there we shall certainly decide certain course of action in this regard.”

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Katara was arrested on Wednesday at the IGI Airport in Delhi while allegedly trying to take a woman and a boy to Canada using the passports of his wife and son.

Meanwhile, BSP chief Mayawati today ruled out disciplinary action against its MPs whose names had cropped up in the case, claiming it was a “conspiracy” hatched by political opponents.

“Prima facie, it appears to be a conspiracy hatched by the parties opposed to us,” Mayawati told an election rally in Sultanpur — Mohammed Tahir Khan, named as one of the MPs allegedly involved in human trafficking, is the BSP MP from Sultanpur.

No disciplinary action could be taken until there was some concrete proof in support of the allegations and if there was evidence, action would be taken against, she said.

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BSP general secretary S C Mishra also ruled out action against Khan and Mitrasen Yadav, the MP from Faizabad, whose names too figures in the police probe. He told reporters in Balia that the allegations against Khan and party Yadav were “fabricated and forged”.

Mitrasen Yadav, on his part, denied that he was involved in the racket though he admitted to knowing Sunderlal Yadav, a ‘paan’ shop owner arrested by Delhi Police in the case.

Meanwhile, overnight raids at the residences of BJP MP Katara led to the recovery of 12 passports even as police continued to look for his wife and sons. Investigators were also verifying the statements of Surendralal Yadav, a suspect who named four MPs in the case, after which they were likely to call the MPs for questioning.

Ramswaroop Koli, BJP MP from Bayana (Rajasthan), Mohammed

Tahir Khan, BSP MP from Sultanpur, Mitrasen Yadav, SP MP from Faizabad and late parliamentarian Ram Avadh were named by Yadav.

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Police said that they have launched an hunt for Shardaben, wife of Katara and his three sons who are untraceable since the Gujarat MP’s arrest on Wednesday.

The investigators had visited his residences in Jhalod town and his native village of Chitrodia in his parliamentary constituency of Dahod.

Meanwhile, police in collaboration with the Gujarat officials have frozen three bank accounts of Katara in Dahod. Delhi police has sent teams to Punjab, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat to investigate the case. Surendralal Yadav, who claimed to have introduced two travel agents to the MPs, is also likely to be taken to the three places in connection with the investigation.

—(With PTI)