The Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday suspended its MP Babubhai Katara, who was arrested for allegedly trying to take a woman to Canada on his wife's passport, in an apparent attempt to limit the damage from a scandalous episode.
Leader of Opposition L K Advani and BJP chief Rajnath Singh ordered his suspension from the party barely hours after his arrest over charges of cheating, forgery and impersonation.
"He has been suspended from the party on directions of the Leader of the Opposition and the party chief. A show-cause notice is also being sent to him," Vijay Kumar Malhotra, the deputy leader of the BJP in the Lok Sabha, told PTI.
His suspension came after Singh, who found the charges against the Gujarat lawmaker serious, asked the party to obtain full account of what all had happened with him at the airport from official channels.
Sources said the party has also launched an internal inquiry into the whole episode that has threatened to plunge it into a new round of embarrassment, after the CD row, while being in the thick of election campaign in Uttar Pradesh.
According to police sources, the MP is likely to be produced in court on charges of forgery and human trafficking.
The woman has claimed that the MP had allegedly asked for Rs 30 lakh to take her to Toronto and leave her there. She was being taken as a translator.
Delhi police chief Dr K K Paul could not be contacted for his statement.
With PTI inputs