Fresh probes in Narada case have Trinamool on back foot
KOLKATA: Central investigative agencies are unleashing a fresh series of raids and investigations against the Trinamool Congress leaders in West Bengal, keeping the heat up on the Mamata Banerjee government.
Dealing a fresh blow to the TMC, the Central Bureau of Investigation has come out with an FIR naming 13 of its top ranking leaders in the Narada case.
As though this were not enough, CBI, which is already probing 77 cases of chit fund scams here, has taken 464 more FIRs lodged with several police stations in the state. The list of FIRs and details were taken from Bengal’s CID. These FIRs were also filed by investors who lost their money in different Ponzi schemes. To add to the trauma of TMC, a party largely confined to West Bengal, other central agencies are also tightening their noose on various cases.
While the CBI investigation is on in full swing, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has initiated a probe into 90 shell companies of Kolkata in which some senior TMC leaders were allegedly found to be involved, sources said.
There were nation-wide raids conducted by ED to crack down on the shell companies last month. These raids were the part of the Narendra Modi government’s to fight black money. The investigation into the 90 shell companies in Kolkata is now part of the central probe into the black money trail. Apart from the investigation into the shell companies, the ED has also been handling the money laundering aspects of the Saradha and Rose Valley scams.
BJP leaders, however, said that their prime focus was on the Narada scam now. “There are many cases of corruption against Trinamool Congress leaders. But at present, the focus is on Narada,” said a senior BJP leader.
Meanwhile, the Left Front on Tuesday held agitations and protest rallies as they feel that the Trinamool Congress might “manage to tackle the situation by hobnobbing with the BJP”. State secretary Surjya Kanta Mishra wanted to know the reason behind the silence of the ethics committee of Parliament before which the Narada case had been presented in 2016. The case is still pending before the committee.
BJP has a different take on the ethics committee investigation. “BJP has an absolute majority in Lok Sabha and the ethics committee could have suspended the accused members. But, we did not do it. Had we done that, the leader of TMC would have again cried foul. So, let the investigation take place and TMC leaders face the consequences,” the senior BJP leader said.
As of now, as many as 12 MPs are under the scanner. Two of them are in jail. During the course of the investigation, three MPs have resigned. Five senior ministers of Mamata’s cabinet are also under the CBI lens for bribery allegations against them in connection with the Narada sting operation case. Sources in the central agencies claimed that over the past few months at least a dozen summons were issued to different TMC leaders while at least 13 more would be issued soon.
Dealing a fresh blow to the TMC, the Central Bureau of Investigation has come out with an FIR naming 13 of its top ranking leaders in the Narada case.
As though this were not enough, CBI, which is already probing 77 cases of chit fund scams here, has taken 464 more FIRs lodged with several police stations in the state. The list of FIRs and details were taken from Bengal’s CID. These FIRs were also filed by investors who lost their money in different Ponzi schemes. To add to the trauma of TMC, a party largely confined to West Bengal, other central agencies are also tightening their noose on various cases.
While the CBI investigation is on in full swing, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has initiated a probe into 90 shell companies of Kolkata in which some senior TMC leaders were allegedly found to be involved, sources said. There were nation-wide raids conducted by ED to crack down on the shell companies last month. These raids were the part of the Narendra Modi government’s to fight black money. The investigation into the 90 shell companies in Kolkata is now part of the central probe into the black money trail. Apart from the investigation into the shell companies, the ED has also been handling the money laundering aspects of the Saradha and Rose Valley scams.
BJP leaders, however, said that their prime focus was on the Narada scam now. “There are many cases of corruption against Trinamool Congress leaders. But at present, the focus is on Narada,” said a senior BJP leader.
Meanwhile, the Left Front on Tuesday held agitations and protest rallies as they feel that the Trinamool Congress might “manage to tackle the situation by hobnobbing with the BJP”. State secretary Surjya Kanta Mishra wanted to know the reason behind the silence of the ethics committee of Parliament before which the Narada case had been presented in 2016. The case is still pending before the committee.
BJP has a different take on the ethics committee investigation. “BJP has an absolute majority in Lok Sabha and the ethics committee could have suspended the accused members. But, we did not do it. Had we done that, the leader of TMC would have again cried foul. So, let the investigation take place and TMC leaders face the consequences,” the senior BJP leader said.
As of now, as many as 12 MPs are under the scanner. Two of them are in jail. During the course of the investigation, three MPs have resigned. Five senior ministers of Mamata’s cabinet are also under the CBI lens for bribery allegations against them in connection with the Narada sting operation case. Sources in the central agencies claimed that over the past few months at least a dozen summons were issued to different TMC leaders while at least 13 more would be issued soon.
