TMC MP HELD IN ROSE VALLEY SCAM
Bandyopadhyay could not clarify on Rose Valley sponsored junkets
The CBI arrested senior TMC MP Sudip Bandopadhyay for his alleged role in the Rose Valley chit fund scam on Tuesday, prompting party chief Mamata Banerjee to accuse the Centre of vendetta politics. She called Prime Minister Narendra Modi a “dangabaaj” (rioter) and demanded his arrest. Members of the TMC’s student wing also attacked a BJP office in Kolkata to protest the arrest.
After Tapas Paul, Mr Bandopadhyay, TMC’s leader in the Lok Sabha, is the second party MP to be arrested in less than a week in connection with the `15,000-crore scam. The West Bengal-based Rose Valley group allegedly robbed millions of investors in several states by promising exaggerated returns.
“Why cannot Modi be arrested? He flaunts a suit worth `4 crore. Why Amit Shah should not be arrested? He’s involved in a cooperative bank scam,” the TMC chief said.
Kolkata, Jan. 3: Trinamul leader in the Lok Sabha Sudip Bandyopadhyay was on Tuesday arrested by the CBI in the Rose Valley chit fund scam, provoking a violent attack by his supporters on BJP’s state headquarters here which left several people injured and set off a fresh bout of recrimination between the two parties.
Bandyopadhyay, the second Trinamul MP to be arrested in the scam within a week after actor-turned-politician Tapas Pal, was earlier subjected to questioning for more than four hours, CBI sources said.
“Bandyopadhyay could not give proper answer regarding Rose Valleysponsored foreign trips and he did not cooperate in the investigation,” they said.
Stung by Bandyopadhyay’s arrest, a furious Mamata Banerjee accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of using central agencies like the CBI, Enforcement Directorate and Income Tax department against his political rivals who were raising their voice against demonetisation.
Mamata alleged that Bandyopadhyay was arrested under “pressure from the PMO” and wondered “why should Narendra Modi and Amit Shah not be arrested?”
“I just can’t think that Sudip Bandyopadhyay, who is our party’s leader in the Lok Sabha will be arrested. I also have information that Modi wants to arrest many other Trinamul leaders like Abhishek Banerjee, Sovan Chatterjee (city mayor) and Firhad Hakim (minister),” she told reporters immediately after his arrest.