Assam Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday termed West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's charge that he was involved in the Saradha chit fund scam as "frivolous", even as the state Youth Congress staged a protest in front of the CBI office here, seeking his arrest.
The minister also said he had offered full cooperation in the ponzi scheme case as a witness.
"The frivolous & baseless campaign by @MamataOfficial Didi against me is very painful. I am not fortunate enough like your Police Commissioner. I've joined the investigations and offered my full cooperation as a witness. And all this happened much much before I joined @BJP4India," Sarma said in a tweet.
Apparently referring to Sarma, Banerjee, who is staging a sit-in protest since Sunday night over the Central Bureau of Investigation's (CBI) attempt to question the Kolkata Police chief in connection with the chit fund scam, had said on Monday that she had "enough evidence against the Assam deputy chief minister" in the case.
The Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief had also dared Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah to get him arrested.
Training guns on Sarma, Assam Youth Congress activists staged a demonstration outside the CBI office here, demanding his arrest for his alleged involvement in the Saradha chit fund scam and the Louise Berger case, involving a water supply project in Guwahati.
They shouted slogans, accusing the minister of receiving Rs 20 lakh per month from Saradha group chairman Sudipta Sen for running his business in Assam.
One of the protesters said, "The Modi-led BJP government is misusing the CBI. Sarma switched to the BJP from the Congress when the heat of the Saradha scam probe was becoming too hot for him to handle."
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