BJP Minister ‘swindled `3cr’

Mamata cites letter of Sudipta Sen of the Saradha Group to the CBI

Mamata Banerjee is not the kind of person to rest on her laurels. After claiming “moral victory” over the ‘‘favourable’’ Supreme Court directive that no coercive step be taken against Kolkata Police commissioner Rajeev Kumar, Mamata sharpened her attack on the CBI by releasing a letter written by Sudipta Sen of the Saradha Group to the CBI. In the letter, Sen has accused BJP’s Assam minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who defected from the Congress to the BJP, of cheating him of “at least Rs 3 crore”. Sarma could not be reached for a comment.

Citing the letter, Mamata made out a case against PM Modi.

“The CBI is acting on the instructions of Modi babu. The agency is selectively targeting opposition leaders. Those who joined the BJP are safe and those who are raising their voice are facing the wrath. This cannot be tolerated in India. There is an urgent need to save institutions. Why is the CBI not taking action against those BJP leaders who took money from the chit fund companies?”Highlighting the failed cases of the agency, she said, “What happened to the 2004 theft of Rabindranath Tagore's Nobel Prize medallion? What happened to the Singur case? What happened to Nandigram violence case? I am pleading before Modi bhai, Amit (Shah) bhai to please ask CBI to locate Tagore’s Nobel.”

Earlier in the day, amid opposition’s demand to impose President’s Rule in West Bengal, Banerjee dared the Centre to impose Article 356. “BJP is playing vindictive politics. They don’t believe in democracy. They are acting like an autocrat. Bengal will not tolerate this. I am ready to die fighting these anti-people forces. If they will try to impose Article 356, 355, then I have Section 144,” she said.