Supreme Court lawyer and Mahua Moitra’s former partner, Jai Anant Dehadrai, has now claimed that he anticipates “a very serious threat to his life” because of the complaint against the Trinamool Congress MP. Dehadrai, who had written to the CBI and BJP MP Nishikant Dubey alleging that he had evidence of Moitra accepting bribes from a businessman to ask questions in parliament, has also claimed that he is being pressured to withdraw his complaint by Moitra, in exchange for the custody of his three-year-old Rottweiler, Henry.
Earlier, both Dehadrai and Moitra have accused each other of “stealing” Henry from their possession and have gone to Delhi Police against each other. Moitra has also described Dehadrai as a “jilted ex” who just wants to get back at her.
Dehadrai’s Letter To Delhi Police
In a letter to Delhi Police Commissioner Sanjay Arora, the advocate said, “I anticipate a very serious threat to my safety on account of my complaint dated October 14, which I have submitted to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and to Nishikant Dubey, MP, against Moitra, M.P., and others.”
He claimed that on October 19, a direct attempt was made to coerce him into withdrawing my complaint.
“Threats of reputational harm were also conveyed in case I did not agree,” he said adding that the “very specific” demand was that he should “unconditionally withdraw both the complaints in which very serious allegations pertaining to national security and corruption have been alleged by me against Moitra” and others.
Dehadrai further claimed that given the TMC leader’s “history of misusing her influence and political clout to browbeat and intimidate opponents, my concerns are serious”.
Bitter Custody Battle
“It was stated that my pet dog, Henry (Rottweiler breed) would be returned by Moitra to me if I agreed to withdraw the said complaints,” Dehadrai said in the latter.
He further stated that last month, Moitra attempted to extort his pet dog Henry from him by filing two totally bogus complaints with the Barakhamba Road Police Station.
“Based on these two fake complaints, she pressurised Mahavir Singh, SHO of the Barakhamba Road Police Station, who then acted under her direct pressure to somehow or the other browbeat me into giving up the lawful ownership of Henry over to Moitra,” he said, adding that he has preserved all the messages from Singh to him as also the eight phone calls where he openly threatened me (“dabna padega”) to give up Henry or else face prosecution in Moitra’s fake complaints.
Dehadrai also said that it is crucial to note that Singh used every trick in the book to compel him to sign and accept a one-sided agreement over Henry’s custody, including a recital in which he would have accepted a fabricated pet certificate made by Moitra, which would have legitimised her illegal possession of Henry.
“I refused. It is crucial to mention that acting under Moitra’s pressure, he (SHO) deliberately ignored the evidence I provided to him which unequivocally established my legitimate claim over my pet Henry and instead, he forwarded me Moitra’s one-sided agreement,” the advocate said.
He also said that the Barakhamba Road Police Station SHO knows the full truth and must come clean on his role in facilitating the actual theft and illegal retention of his dog Henry by Moitra.
‘Threat To Life’
Dehadrai said that “given the extremely dangerous and dubious antecedents of Moitra and her accomplices, I anticipate an attack on my life.”
He also said that he has received multiple strange messages from unknown numbers on his personal mobile phone which then suddenly came to be deleted.
“Yesterday, I received three phone calls at 2:22 p.m. from a “No Caller ID” number. Even more disturbing is the fact that a few days ago, some unverified individuals attempted to barge into my private residence. I have a genuine apprehension that certain quarters might attempt some nefarious deeds to prevent me from deposing before the Ethics Committee, Lok Sabha on October 26 and also before the Investigating Agencies,” the SC lawyer said.
“Given the strange occurrences that have been going on, I fear for the well-being of my Chamber colleagues and myself. As I possess extremely sensitive evidence and material pertaining to this case, there is every likelihood that attempts could be made to either destroy this material or obtain it from me under threat of bodily harm. I therefore humbly request you to assess the threats in question and provide adequate protection, as you deem fit,” he added.
‘Bribes for Query’ Row
Last Sunday, a massive controversy erupted after BJP MP Nishikant Dubey posed a massive allegation against Moitra that she took “cash and gifts” from businessman Darshan Hiranandani to “ask questions in Parliament’.
Moitra responded to the allegations and said CBI is welcome to investigate “right after they finish investigating Adani’s offshore money trail, over-invoicing, benami account”.
Dubey wrote to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla seeking an inquiry against Moitra and her immediate suspension from the House for taking cash for question.
In his letter, Dubey said that he is in receipt of a letter from Jai Anant Dehadrai, Advocate, wherein, he has shared irrefutable evidence of bribes exchanged between Moitra and Darshan Hiranandani, a well known business tycoon, to ask question(s) in Parliament in exchange for ‘Cash’ and ‘Gifts’.
Dubey also wrote to Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw demanding investigation into IP Address of the Lok Sabha MP’s login credentials saying that she acted in a manner that was detrimental to India’s national security.
Moitra’s Allegations
Meanwhile, Moitra on Friday put up a brave front saying that she is ready to face the CBI questions and the Parliament’s Ethics Committee after the affidavit of businessman Darshan Hiranandani.
She had alleged that the Prime Minister’s Office “held a proverbial gun” to Hiranandani’s head and made him sign the white paper that was later “leaked to the press”. She also dubbed the contents of the letter by Hiranandani as “joke”.
Darshan Hiranandani, the CEO of real estate-to-energy group Hiranandani, who allegedly paid Moitra to raise questions in Parliament about Adani Group, recently claimed in a signed affidavit that she targeted Gautam Adani to “malign and embarrass” Prime Minister Narendra Modi whose impeccable reputation gave opposition no opportunity to attack him.
TMC Maintains Distance from Moitra
The Trinamool Congress has decided to maintain distance from the controversy surrounding its MP Mahua Moitra, who has been facing allegations of taking bribes for raising questions in Parliament.
“The party has nothing to say on this issue. We think the person around whom this controversy is revolving is best suited to react to this,” TMC’s West Bengal general secretary and spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said.
Another senior TMC leader, who did not wish to be named, said the party leadership is unwilling to get into a controversy and thus will be maintaining distance from it.
(With IANS and PTI Inputs)
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