CPI MLA from Nandigram resigns over bribery charge

Mohammed Ilyas, CPI MLA from Nandigram, has resigned, months after he was caught on camera allegedly taking a bribe from an NGO for development work in a sting operation by a private TV channel.

West Bengal Assembly Speaker Hashim Abdul Halim said here on Wednesday that Ilyas had sent him his resignation letter last Friday. Halim said he had accepted the resignation. An Assembly Committee headed by the Congress legislator Gyan Singh Sonapal was probing the graft allegation levelled against Ilyas early this year when the Trinamool Congress-led anti-SEZ agitation was on in Nandigram. The CPI, which is a partner in the Left Front, has endorsed the resignation of Ilyas.