The CBI probing the multi-crore chit fund case has summoned senior Trinamool Congress man and party’s Parliamentary Party leader Sudip Bandopadhyay to appear at its CGO complex office at Salt lake.
CBI sources said the MP had been called to appear before it to get his statements recorded in the Rose Valley case involving several thousand crores.
Bandopadhyay who refused to dwell much on the issue conceded that he had indeed received a telephone call from the CBI officials who asked him to appear before them at CGO complex on Wednesday or Thursday.
The Chief Minister who was currently touring districts promptly levelled “vendetta” allegations saying the Centre was trying to browbeat the Trinamool Congress as it had taken lead in the notbandi movement.
CBI sources said three notices were sent to Bandopadhyay via fax, post and email apart from a telephone call. Banerjee however said the TMC MP had received three such calls asking him to appear before the CBI officials at the earliest.
Incidentally Bandopadhyay had earlier termed CBI as “Gujarat Bureau of Investigation.”
The MP was issued summons earlier also but he refused to appear saying as the Winter Sessions of Parliament was under progress. Another Trinamool MP Shatabdi Roy had been summoned by the CBI.
Trinamool sources said Bandopadhyay was unlikely to show up at the CBI office in near future and he had already spoken on the issue to the Chief Minister. A decision on Bandopadhyay’s appearance would be taken after Banerjee returned to Kolkata from her district tour, sources said.
later reacting to reports the Chief Minister wondered “why is BJP doing vendetta politicsIJ Our party lS leader got three calls from the CBI.”
She also said that the BJP Government’s “arm-twisting policy would not yield any result adding “nothing will deter us from fight against notebandi. We will continue our stir and intensify it further.”
The Chief Minister said “instead of taking a relook at the anti-people policy of notebandi this Government is threatening the opposition parties which are raising the issue. But this will not deter us and we will continue to carry out our movement. The people are seeing everything and they will give a befitting reply to this Government.”