Bamboo Mamata Banerjee had said "Ami Chor? Mukul Chor? Modon Chor? Kunal ar Tumpai chor?...."
CBI have now nabbed all of them except the first two. The second is now summoned.
Kalyan
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Monday called Trinamool Congress heavyweight and former railway minister Mukul Roy for questioning in connection with the Saradha scam. A CBI officer rang up Roy, the Trinamool’s general secretary and generally seen as the number two in the party after chief minister Mamata Banerjee, in the morning and asked him to appear during the day itself.
Roy, however, said he was not in town and preoccupied. According to a source in the CBI, Roy sought a few days’ time.
Roy is known as the man who runs the party organisation, and is widely credited as the brain for securing 34 of the 42 Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal in last year’s polls.
Among the Trinamool leaders who have publicly alleged Roy’s links with Saradha are Rajya Sabha MP Kunal Ghosh and former Trinamool leader Asif Khan, who was a confidant of Roy.
The Saradha scam was caused by the collapse of the investment operation of the Saradha Group, a consortium of over 200 private companies, which ran many unlicensed financial schemes in eastern India.
Under the scam hundreds of thousands of small investors lost Rs. 2,459 crore, according to an official estimate. There are unofficial estimates that peg the figure higher.
Over the last few weeks, sensing he might be summoned by the CBI, Mamata has gradually distanced herself from Roy.
Late last year, Mamata clipped his wings by announcing that she would look after party matters herself, though Roy retained his exalted position.
“We had earlier said bigwigs of Bengal's ruling party were not only linked with this scam, but also connected with the conspiracy. The way CBI is progressing, we hope the top leader of Trinamool Congress will also be summoned in due course,” Congress leader Abdul Mannan, whose PIL culminated in the Supreme Court handing over the Saradha probe to CBI, said.
BJP national secretary in charge of Bengal, Siddharth Nath Singh said the CBI questioning Roy “will be a jolt for Mamata Banerjee”.
“This will be a year for Bhaag Mukul Bhaag,” he added, playing on the movie title Bhaag Milkha Bhaag (Run Milkha Run).
State BJP president Rahul Sinha said, “None other than the chief minister had publicly uttered the names of five persons. Three have already been arrested.”
On May 4, 2013 just a few days after the Saradha scam exploded, shocking hundreds of thousands of depositors in Bengal, the CM famously said, “Kunal chor (Ghosh)? Madan (Mitra) chor? Tumpai (Srinjoy Bose) chor? Mukul Roy chor? Ami chor? Sobai chor? Bakira shob sadhu? (Is Kunal a thief? Is Madan a thief? Is Tumpai a thief? Is Mukul a thief? Am I a thief? Are all of us thieves? And the rest are all saints?)
Though Mamata had uttered the sentences sarcastically, three of the names she said, are already behind bars.
The most prominent of them is transport and sports minister Madan Mitra, who is in Alipore Jail.
Others are Rajya Sabha MPs Srinjoy Bose and Kunal Ghosh. Party vice-president and former DG (armed police), Rajat Majumdar, is also is jail.
“The CBI is duty bound to find out who engineered the conspiracy and where did the money go. Roy too has to be arrested and information should be extracted from him. All Trinamool leaders had started sharing information after they were arrested,” said former Kolkata mayor Bikash Bhattacharyya who argued in favour of a CBI probe in the PIL in the Supreme Court last summer.
The Saradha chit fund scam trail is hounding Mamata’s government unlike any other challenge she has encountered during her stint in power so far.
Opposition parties have repeatedly accused the CM of trying to shield some of the beneficiaries of the company’s slush funds.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/saradha-scam-cbi-asks-trinamool-bigwig-mukul-roy-to-turn-up-for-questioning/article1-1305850.aspx
Roy, however, said he was not in town and preoccupied. According to a source in the CBI, Roy sought a few days’ time.
Roy is known as the man who runs the party organisation, and is widely credited as the brain for securing 34 of the 42 Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal in last year’s polls.
Among the Trinamool leaders who have publicly alleged Roy’s links with Saradha are Rajya Sabha MP Kunal Ghosh and former Trinamool leader Asif Khan, who was a confidant of Roy.
The Saradha scam was caused by the collapse of the investment operation of the Saradha Group, a consortium of over 200 private companies, which ran many unlicensed financial schemes in eastern India.
Under the scam hundreds of thousands of small investors lost Rs. 2,459 crore, according to an official estimate. There are unofficial estimates that peg the figure higher.
Over the last few weeks, sensing he might be summoned by the CBI, Mamata has gradually distanced herself from Roy.
Late last year, Mamata clipped his wings by announcing that she would look after party matters herself, though Roy retained his exalted position.
“We had earlier said bigwigs of Bengal's ruling party were not only linked with this scam, but also connected with the conspiracy. The way CBI is progressing, we hope the top leader of Trinamool Congress will also be summoned in due course,” Congress leader Abdul Mannan, whose PIL culminated in the Supreme Court handing over the Saradha probe to CBI, said.
BJP national secretary in charge of Bengal, Siddharth Nath Singh said the CBI questioning Roy “will be a jolt for Mamata Banerjee”.
“This will be a year for Bhaag Mukul Bhaag,” he added, playing on the movie title Bhaag Milkha Bhaag (Run Milkha Run).
State BJP president Rahul Sinha said, “None other than the chief minister had publicly uttered the names of five persons. Three have already been arrested.”
On May 4, 2013 just a few days after the Saradha scam exploded, shocking hundreds of thousands of depositors in Bengal, the CM famously said, “Kunal chor (Ghosh)? Madan (Mitra) chor? Tumpai (Srinjoy Bose) chor? Mukul Roy chor? Ami chor? Sobai chor? Bakira shob sadhu? (Is Kunal a thief? Is Madan a thief? Is Tumpai a thief? Is Mukul a thief? Am I a thief? Are all of us thieves? And the rest are all saints?)
Though Mamata had uttered the sentences sarcastically, three of the names she said, are already behind bars.
The most prominent of them is transport and sports minister Madan Mitra, who is in Alipore Jail.
Others are Rajya Sabha MPs Srinjoy Bose and Kunal Ghosh. Party vice-president and former DG (armed police), Rajat Majumdar, is also is jail.
“The CBI is duty bound to find out who engineered the conspiracy and where did the money go. Roy too has to be arrested and information should be extracted from him. All Trinamool leaders had started sharing information after they were arrested,” said former Kolkata mayor Bikash Bhattacharyya who argued in favour of a CBI probe in the PIL in the Supreme Court last summer.
The Saradha chit fund scam trail is hounding Mamata’s government unlike any other challenge she has encountered during her stint in power so far.
Opposition parties have repeatedly accused the CM of trying to shield some of the beneficiaries of the company’s slush funds.
Saradha scam: CBI issues 'summons' to TMC MP Mukul Roy
NEW DELHI: The CBI has reportedly issued summons to TMC MP Mukul Roy in connection with the Saradha scam probe, Times Now reported on Monday.
Trinamool Congress had on Sunday indicated it might move the Supreme Court against the "misuse" of the CBI by the central government in the Saradha scam probe to "settle political scores" with the party.
With an eye on the 2015 municipal polls and the assembly elections a year later, the Trinamool has decided to take the Bharatiya Janata Party head-on to preserve its base, especially in the villages and among the Muslim community.
READ ALSO: Saradha scam — TMC likely to move SC against 'CBI misuse'
CBI may consider shifting of Saradha case probe outside West Bengal
The party is facing its gravest political crisis since coming to power in 2011 as the Central Bureau of investigation carries forward its probe into the Saradha chit fund scam.
Already, state minister Madan Mitra, two party MPs - Kunal Ghosh and Srinjoy Bose - and a Trinamool vice president Rajat Majumdar are under arrest, while many other leaders have faced grilling by the CBI and other central agencies looking into the multi-million-rupee scandal.
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Party chief Mamata Banerjee on Saturday announced she would take reins of the organisation, in addition to performing her chief ministerial duties.
Till now, party general secretary Mukul Roy was in charge of the organisation.
Banerjee also backed Mitra and Bose, saying she did not believe they were involved in the scam.
(With inputs from agencies.)
Trinamool Congress had on Sunday indicated it might move the Supreme Court against the "misuse" of the CBI by the central government in the Saradha scam probe to "settle political scores" with the party.
With an eye on the 2015 municipal polls and the assembly elections a year later, the Trinamool has decided to take the Bharatiya Janata Party head-on to preserve its base, especially in the villages and among the Muslim community.
READ ALSO: Saradha scam — TMC likely to move SC against 'CBI misuse'
CBI may consider shifting of Saradha case probe outside West Bengal
The party is facing its gravest political crisis since coming to power in 2011 as the Central Bureau of investigation carries forward its probe into the Saradha chit fund scam.
Already, state minister Madan Mitra, two party MPs - Kunal Ghosh and Srinjoy Bose - and a Trinamool vice president Rajat Majumdar are under arrest, while many other leaders have faced grilling by the CBI and other central agencies looking into the multi-million-rupee scandal.
Party chief Mamata Banerjee on Saturday announced she would take reins of the organisation, in addition to performing her chief ministerial duties.
Till now, party general secretary Mukul Roy was in charge of the organisation.
Banerjee also backed Mitra and Bose, saying she did not believe they were involved in the scam.
(With inputs from agencies.)
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Saradha-scam-CBI-issues-summons-to-TMC-MP-Mukul-Roy/articleshow/45850375.cms
Published: January 12, 2015 13:58 IST | Updated: January 12, 2015 13:58 IST
Saradha Scam: CBI summons TMC M.P. Mukul Roy
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has summoned Trinamool Congress (TMC) general secretary and Rajya Sabha MP Mukul Roy in connection with the multi-crore Saradha scam.
Mr. Roy has been asked to appear before the CBI officers, who are investigating the scam, by the end of the week.
CBI has sent a letter summoning TMC MP’s official residence in Delhi.
Earlier, an e-mail was sent to MP’s office for “clarifying the address” of Mr. Roy’s residence where the formal notice could be sent. “Upon receiving the clarification, the letter was sent MP’s residence in Delhi,” sources told The Hindu.
Till recently, TMC’s general secretary Mukul Roy was considered to be the second most important person in the party. He was often described as the “eyes and ears” of the Chief Minister, Mamata Banerjee and almost single-handedly managing the organisation.
However, after the recent spate of arrests of top TMC leaders, Ms. Banerjee was publicly distancing herself from her MP Mr. Roy who made very few public appearances along with the Chief Minister. He was absent from the biggest business summit hosted by TMC-led government last week in the city. Additionally, Ms. Banerjee was promoting her nephew Abhisek Banerjee in recent months, fuelling speculation that TMC leadership is expecting CBI to summon Mukul Roy.
In December 2014, another powerful TMC organiser and Transport Minister, Madan Mitra was summoned and arrested by the central agency. The party is now hoping that the second-in-command will only be grilled and not arrested by the CBI.
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/saradha-scam-cbi-summons-tmc-mp-mukul-roy/article6780884.ece