As the election dates are nearing, the stress on each political party to uplift its political image is increasing and preparations have gained momentum. The centre ruling BJP is now taking their chances in West Bengal. Recently, netizens are sharing a newspaper clip having a title that translates in English as “BJP leader who sold kids get arrested.” According to the post, BJP leader Juhi Chowdhury was arrested by the Crime Investigation Department (CID) from Siliguri, West Bengal for allegedly trafficking 17 children.
The post is being shared ahead of the West Bengal elections which are to be held between 27 March 2021 to 29 April 2021 in 8 phases. The netizens are sharing the screenshot with different captions, hinting that this event happened recently. A Facebook user, Bittu Raj shared the screenshot with the caption, “BJP leader who sold kids arrested.” The caption hints that the event happened recently. A Facebook user, Bittu Raj shared the screenshot with the caption, “BJP leader who sold kids arrested.” The caption hints that the event happened recently.
Anti Fake News War Room (AFWA) found that the claim made in the post is not completely correct. It is true that BJP leader Juhi Chaudhary was arrested on charges of child trafficking but this matter is of March 2017, not yet. The arrest of Juhi Chowdhury on March 1, 2017. According to the report, BJP Mahila Morcha leader Juhi Chowdhury was booked in the Jalpaiguri child trafficking case and was arrested by the CID from Batasi area of Darjeeling district on the night of March 17. Present BJP members were inquired regarding the same and they confirmed that it has been over 3 years now that Juhi Chowdhury resigned. A member from the party said, “While the case is still under the jurisdiction and no crime has been proved against her, Juhi Chowdhury is no more a part of BJP and she has resigned from BJP 3 years ago.” According to a news from Patrika, Juhi Chaudhary got bail from the Supreme Court in this case. Viral news cutting was also shared on social media in March 2017. Apart from this, the woman seen in the picture in the post is not Juhi Chaudhary but Pamela Goswami, a Bengal BJP worker recently arrested for possession of drugs. The made claims were completely misleading in view of the Bengal elections, four years old news related to the trafficking of children is being shared by telling the present.
