Upping the ante in the Saradha chit fund scam, the BJP on Saturday demanded that Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee be interrogated by the CBI.
The demand comes a day after senior TMC leader Mukul Roy was interrrogated by the agency and Congress leader and former Union Minister Matang Sinh was arrested by the CBI in connection with the multi-crore scam.
While speaking to The Times of India , BJP national secretary Sidharth Nath Singh said: "There can't be two yardsticks for two persons. One of the reasons why the CBI questioned Mukul Roy was his meeting with Saradha chief Sudipta Sen in Kalimpong. Mamata Banerjee, too, was present at this meeting. Then, why should she not be interrogated?"
Sinh was arrested on Saturday on charges of criminal conspiracy, cheating and misappropriation of funds. He is the first former Union Minister to be arrested in this regard.
NDTV reported that Sinh was summoned to the headquarters of Special Investigation Team of the CBI in Kolkata and was questioned for about five hours. He was allegedly not cooperating with the agency, forcing it to arrest him for another round of interrogation.
However, during his initial interrogation, he is believed to have named bureaucrats who were influenced by him in return for favourable posting, among other benefits.
Sinh's arrest comes almost 13 days after the CBI nabbed the absconding Director of Saradha realty Shib Narayan Das in Kolkata. He is allegedly said to have given information about Sinh's involvement in the scam.
Sources said that Das allegedly conspired and plotted the idea of duping people by making them invest money in the schemes of the Saradha chit fund with attractive benefits. He was the main conspirator who suggested the idea to the Chairman of the Saradha group Sudipta Sen.
Till now four TMC leaders, including two MPs and a cabinet minister have been arrested for their suspected involvement in the chit fund scam.
The CBI has registered four cases against the Saradha group in West Bengal till now, following the orders of the Supreme Court.
