Trinamool Congress lawmaker Derek O’Brien has been summoned by the CBI for questioning in connection with the Saradha chit fund scam. The CBI is probing transactions in Trinamool's 'Jago Bangla' mouthpiece
Kolkata: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has summoned Trinamool Congress (TMC) Rajya Sabha MP Derek O’Brien for questioning in the Saradha chit fund scam. O’Brien is expected to go to the CBI office in Kolkata early next month.
The Bengal politician linked the CBI summons to the Trinamool Congress' opposition to amendments in the Right To Information Act (RTI), in a tweet.
Derek, who had voiced his criticisms against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, claimed that the Saradha chit fund scam was being "politicised" by the BJP-led Central government simply to defame TMC chief and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee.
"Corruption will never stick to Didi's white saree," he had remarked earlier this year.
Earlier this month, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had summoned six people, including Trinamool Congress lawmaker Satabdi Roy and former member Kunal Ghosh, for questioning in the chit fund scam. Former Kolkata Police commissioner Rajeev Kumar is also an accused in the case.
Derek had earlier been summoned by the CBI but he had refused to show up for the questioning citing parliamentary reasons.
The Trinamool Congress government in West Bengal has found itself in the Saradha chit fund scam as well as the Rs 17,500 crore Rose Valley scam for several years now.
A further blow came in the recent Lok Sabha election, when the ruling party's tally came down from 42 in the 2014 contest to just 22. The BJP, on the other hand, was able to push up its numbers to 18.
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