)
In a major jolt to the Trinamool Congress (TMC), the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) summoned the party’s all-India general secretary Mukul Roy on Monday in connection with the multi-crore Saradha chit fund scam.
According to sources, the CBI has mailed the notice to Roy, a former railways minister, and a close aide of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and arguably the No. 2 in the party. Roy was also informed about the summons by the CBI over phone.
Roy has sought two days’ time to appear before the CBI. The investigating agency is understood to be in possession of call records between Roy and Saradha promoter Sudipta Sen, on the basis of which the TMC leader has been summoned. Roy’s name has often surfaced in connection with the scam.
Kunal Ghosh, a former member of Parliament (MP) from the TMC who is in judicial custody, has alleged Roy has close links with Sen. There were also allegations that Sen had met Roy in April 2013 before the former fled Kolkata after Saradha went bust. Several Saradha employees have also reportedly claimed before the CBI that such a meeting took place.
Pictures of Roy at the office of Kolom, one of the many newspapers run by Sudipta Sen, had surfaced earlier.
Reacting to the summons, Roy, in New Delhi on Monday, said: “I am here (Delhi) for two days. Let me go back to Kolkata, then I’ll see. One thing I can say, that I have never been associated with any sort of illegal or immoral activity.” He added that he would cooperate with CBI.
TMC spokesperson Derek O’ Brien said, “The nasty ploy of using the CBI as a political tool by the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) continues. They could not fight us politically in West Bengal in the Lok Sabha elections; now, these dirty tactics months before the corporation elections. We will fight them – strongly, politically.”
“This is blatant vindictiveness. The so-called summons have not yet reached, and BJP honchos are already giving bytes. Is the CBI being run by Narendra Modi’s office? Or by Amit Shah from the BJP headquarters?” O’ Brien said.
The Left parties, the BJP and the Congress said the CBI move was on expected lines. They demanded Roy be arrested. Ghosh, Rajya Sabha MP Srinjoy Bose, TMC vice-president Rajat Majumdar, and state sports minister Madan Mitra are already behind bars for their alleged involvement in the scam.
