Kolkata, 12 March (H.S.): A BJP worker has been accused of fleeing with around Rs 20 lakh belonging to the party’s Hooghly district president, who has lodged a complaint with the police and appealed on social media for help in tracing the accused.

Hooghly district BJP president Gautam Chattopadhyay, who runs an electrical equipment business, alleged that the accused, identified as party worker Shibshankar Karmakar, had been working at his shop since 2024.

Chattopadhyay claimed on Thursday that due to his involvement in party activities he could not always supervise the business and the shop was looked after by Karmakar and a few other employees.

According to the complaint, Karmakar had been taking electrical goods from the shop over the past few months and supplying them to other stores but allegedly failed to deposit the money with the business owner.

The total amount involved is estimated to be around Rs 20 lakh, after which the accused allegedly went missing, Chattopadhyay said.

He also claimed that Karmakar had been active in party programmes and had once served as a booth president. The BJP leader further alleged that the accused had been using his name to cheat several people.

The police said a complaint has been lodged and the matter is being looked into.

Meanwhile, the Trinamool Congress took a swipe at the BJP over the incident. TMC councillor of ward number 8 in the Chinsurah municipality, Nirmal Chakraborty, alleged that the BJP was a “party of cheats” and mocked the incident.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Priyanka Pandey