A 30-year-old tribal woman from a tea estate in Jalpaiguri district has accused John Barla, the Union minister of state for minority affairs and the BJP MP of Alipurduar, of inaction when she went to him with a complaint of sexual abuse against an influential person.

On Wednesday, the woman filed a complaint with Debarshi Dutta, the Jalpaiguri SP, where she alleged that a businessman had sexually tormented her for around a year.

Dutta said: “In the complaint, she stated Jaychand Agarwal, a businessman of Banarhat, tormented her a number of times. She has stated that she had (last year) been to John Barla, the MP, and sought his help. But the MP, according to her, did not help her, and fleeced her financially. We have arrested the businessman and started a probe.”

The SP did not elaborate how the MP allegedly cheated the woman financially.

Sources in Banarhat said the woman knew Agarwal who helped her in her wedding too. “Though she filed the complaint on Wednesday, she is referring to an issue that’s almost a year old. We are exploring all angles,” said a source in the district police.

The woman told the media briefly: “I met John Barla seeking his help. But he did not help me. That is why I approached the police now and hope to get justice.”

On Thursday, Agarwal was produced at a court in Jalpaiguri. The court sent him to police custody for two days.

Barla spoke to this paper over phone from Delhi where he brushed aside the charges.

“A tribal woman approached me about a year ago with a bank cheque that bounced for want of funds. I had given her all possible help. There is no question of my cheating her financially. I don’t know why such charges are being raised against me now, I suspect some political conspiracy,” he said.

Recently, it was found that Barla built a house on a plot leased out by the state government to a tea company and is building a multi-storey commercial complex on another plot owned by the state PWD department. The minister, who kept mum about his properties, had earlier hit the limelight for advocating separate statehood or Union territory status for north Bengal.

The woman’s allegations prompted Gangaprasad Sharma, a former district president of BJP in Alipurduar who quit the saffron camp and joined Trinamul after Assembly elections, lambasted Barla on Thursday.

“It is disappointing that a woman did not get necessary help from an elected representative, who is a member of the Union cabinet now. We want the police to investigate the matter thoroughly, and if required, speak with the MP,” said Sharma.