Bengal BJP Leader Arrested for Running a Prostitution Ring; TMC Slams BJP for “Protecting Pimps”, BJP denies link

The police on Friday arrested BJP leader Sabhyasachi Ghosh along with 10 others on allegations of operating a prostitution ring involving underage girls at a hotel located in the Howrah district of West Bengal. A massive political storm erupted over the arrest of the BJP leader, with Trinamool Congress lashing out at the BJP for “protecting leaders” involved in a sex racket, and the BJP hitting back saying that the TMC was trying to make people look away from the Sandeshkhali incidents where women have accused TMC leader Shahjahan Sheikh and his aides of land grab and sexual abuse.

BJP leader Sabyasachi Ghosh and 10 others were arrested when the police raided a hotel in Sankrail on Thursday evening. They found several girls and women in the hotel, which the police have said belongs to Ghosh. The officials have said that the local BJP leader and others were running a sex racket, bringing girls and women to the hotel near National Highway 116. “During the police raid, two minor girls and four women were rescued from the hotel owned by Sabyasachi Ghosh. The four women were taken to Liluah Home and the two minors to the Child Welfare Committee. The arrested people had been running the sex racket by bringing in girls and women to the hotel…The investigation is still on. We are waiting for more leads,” said a police official after the completion of the raids.

Following the arrest, Trinamool Congress launched a scathing attack at the BJP for “protecting pimps” over the daughters of the country. “@BJP4Bengalleader Sabyasachi Ghosh caught running a PROSTITUTION RACKET of MINOR GIRLS in his hotel in Howrah's Sankrail. The Police arrested 11 accused & rescued 6 victims from the spot. THIS IS BJP. They don't protect BETIS, they protect PIMPS!” posted TMC on social media platform “X”.

Sharpening their attack at the saffron party, TMC Youth Wing Leader Sayani Ghosh said, “The BJP is working overtime to malign Mamata Banerjee’s image. The same BJP’s Howrah Kisan Morcha Secretary Sabyasachi Ghosh has been arrested from a hotel in Sankrail for running a prostitution racket involving minor girls.”

However, the Bharatiya Janata Party was quick to counter. In an official statement, the party stated that Sabhyasachi Ghosh is in no way related to them. Senior BJP leader Rahul Sinha stated that TMC is trying to fabricate a story that paints BJP in a negative light. “The TMC is desperately trying to wriggle out of Sandeshkhali fire, which has engulfed the ruling party and established the role of their local satraps in exploiting women and committing atrocities on locals for years,” said Sinha.