Hindustan Times

New Delhi, Apr 18: Babubhai Katara, a 46-year-old tribal BJP MP from Gujarat, was arrested at Delhi’s international airport Wednesday morning after he tried to take a woman to Canada on his wife's diplomatic passport, police said.

Police suspected human trafficking for monetary gains but a red-faced BJP suspended him from the party while pledging “severest exemplary action” against him to contain the damage in the course of the UP polls.

Babubhai Khimabhai Katara (Pic courtesy: Parliament of India)

BJP chief Rajnath Singh called for details of his arrest, indicating that he would be expelled from the party after disciplinary proceedings.

Police said Katara was accompanied by a woman named Paramjeet Kaur and Amarjeet 16 who were posing as his wife Sharadaben and son Rajesh. They were about to board Air India flight 187 to Toronto.

Katara, who represents Dahod in the Lok Sabha, was detained by immigration officials for questioning and later they handed them over to the police. Air India staff were the first to notice that photographs in the passports did not match the passengers. They informed immigration officials, who detained the three including the MP.

Police said Katara's aide had struck a deal with an "agent" for Rs 30 lac, of which Rs 15 lac had already been paid, for taking the woman and the boy to Toronto as the MP’s wife and son. A person named Sandhu is said to have acted as an intermediary between the MP's secretary Rajendra, and Paramjeet, who hails from Punjab.

Katara, who represents Dahod in the Lok Sabha, was second-time MP.  The BJP acted fast to check damage to the party’s image at the time of the polls in UP. In 2005, Parliament expelled 11 members - 10 from the Lok Sabha and one from the Rajya Sabha -  for the “cash on query” scam. Of them, six belonged to the BJP.

Katara case shows BJP character: Cong

PTI
 
New Delhi: Likening the case to the Monica Bedi affair, Congress on Wednesday demanded a thorough investigation into the Babubhai Katara case alleging that it showed the true character of the BJP.

Replying to queries from reporters, party spokesman Abhishek Singhvi said the expulsion of Katara from the Lok Sabha was just "only one aspect" as the matter was unprecedented and it indicated an immigration racket.

"This is the true face, nature and character of the BJP. There are many aspects to the case including moral and criminal," he said, but refrained from specifying what action should be taken against him. "Let us not quickfire verdict," he added.

Reacting on the issue, Minister of Textiles Shankersinh Vaghela said "it is not simply a party issue. This is little bit larger. Party may take action but if it is true, what he did is not fair".