Probe on, CPM tells Sikdar to duck media

Three days after her husband Avtar Singh was arrested on charges of running a prostitution racket, CPI(M) MP Jyotirmoyee Sikdar has gone int...

Three days after her husband Avtar Singh was arrested on charges of running a prostitution racket, CPI(M) MP Jyotirmoyee Sikdar has gone into hiding under instructions from her party.

CPI(M) state committee secretary Anil Biswas said today that Sikdar was lying low following suggestions from the party. ‘‘Sikdar is not surfacing because we have asked her to go ahead with party work in her constituency,’’ Biswas told reporters today.

Biswas also said the party had already begun an inquiry into whether Sikdar was in any way involved in the sex racket.

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Meanwhile, Avtar, who has been admitted to the state-run SSKM Hospital, today complained of police harassment. Speaking to The Indian Express at his room in the VIP block of the hospital, Avtar said he was being ‘‘framed’’ and he would prove his innocence in court.

He claimed that he had already leased out his hotel, Merlin Park, to two persons in July 2003. He, however, said he could not recall their names. This even as he said he had all the papers of the lease deal signed with the two persons and he would produce them in court soon.

‘‘I told the police I leased out the hotel, and wanted to show the papers but they did not listen. I was getting Rs 35,000 as rent for the hotel. How can I be responsible for something that happened at the hotel which is not run by me,’’ Avtar said. ‘‘I am quite baffled at the turn of events,’’ the former athlete added.