West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of attempting to malign the image of the Missionaries of Charity.

Banerjee’s reaction came after an alleged baby-selling racket was unearthed at Nirmal Hriday, a Missionaries of Charities-run shelter home in Jharkhand’s Ranchi. Ranchi police had recently arrested Sister Koncilia and Anima Indwar — a Nirmal Hriday staffer — in connection with the reported racket after it was revealed that they sold a baby born to a minor inmate to an Uttar Pradesh-based couple.

Criticising the BJP for linking the Missionaries of Charity with such rackets, Banerjee tweeted, “Mother Teresa herself set up Missionaries of Charity. And now they are also not being spared… BJP want to spare no one. Highly condemnable…”

Mother Teresa herself set up Missionaries of Charity. And now they are also not being spared. Malicious attempts to malign their name. The Sisters are being targeted. #BJP want to spare no one. Highly condemnable. Let MOC continue to do their work for the poorest of the poor

— Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) July 12, 2018

Sources in the state secretariat said the chief minister was upset with the way the BJP tried to create a controversy by linking the Missionaries of Charity with the alleged racket.

Despite repeated attempts, neither Bishop Theodore Mascarenhas of Ranchi nor staffers at the Missionaries of Charity in Kolkata were available for their comment.

Jharkhand chief minister Raghubar Das had ordered a probe into the matter and directed the Social Welfare Department and Commission for Protection of Child Rights to prepare a report within 15 days.

Meanwhile, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India is looking for legal options to respond to the allegations.

In a tweet, Bishop Theodore Mascarenhas said, “We are very sad about what happened and Missionaries of Charity are clear that their records are in order.”