Chhattisgarh’s Opposition Congress which produced a CD to the media to indict Chief Minister Raman Singh, in the Indira Priyadarshini Mahila Nagrik Sahakari Bank scandal, found itself on the backfoot on Monday as the bank chairperson who belongs to a hardcore Congress family, strongly denied paying any money to Raman Singh or his Cabinet colleagues.
Congress had released a CD (compact disc) on July 20 here at a hurriedly convened press conference and accused Chief Minister Raman Singh and his four Cabinet colleagues of taking a bribe of Rs 1 crore each from the Indira Priyadarshani Co-operative bank’s chairperson Rita Tiwari.
The allegations against CM and others were attributed to statements of the former bank manager, Umesh Sinha, who was heard saying in the CD that money was paid by Rita Tiwari to Raman Singh and his ministers. The bank manager had claimed in the CD that he was well aware about the payments made to the CM.
The CD hit headlines in newspapers across the State and charged up political atmosphere as it was for the first time Raman Singh, who is heading the BJP Government since December 2003, came into the firing line directly for alleged corruption link.
Sensing that the issue has potential to stall BJP making a hat-trick in the mineral-rich State, the Congress on Monday announced to hold a series of protests on the issue that include laying a seize at the CM’s residence on July 25 to cash in on the issue.
But the bribery charges against Singh and others in Rs. 18 crore Indira Priyadarshini Mahila Nagrik Sahakari Bank scam which broke out in 2007, took a twist on Monday as Rita Tiwari, issued a written statement to media outlets describing Umesh Sinha a ‘sharp criminal’ and strongly dismissed his payment claims point by point.
“Whatever the statements Sinha has given in the Narco test attributing to me of which the CD has been released, are completely false; I didn’t pay any money to either Chief Minister or the ministers; the payment allegations by Sinha are part of a conspiracy and intended to confuse police and judiciary,’’ the statement read.
She further said, “Even I am ready to submit affidavit to prove my claims that all allegations against CM and others are incorrect and Sinha did it just to take himself out of trouble.”
The Bank chairperson’s strong rebuttal of Sinha’s claims shocked and stunned Congress party which had been starved of a potential issue for years.
“The Bank chairperson’s open statement is a big setback to the Congress; we managed to get a big issue after years-long hunt to expose Raman Singh in an election year, but the issue is now set to die down within 48 hours since we released the CD,’’ a senior Congress leader told The Pioneer requesting that his name be withheld.
He remarked that senior State leaders of the Congress were not on the same page while releasing the CD in a hurry and also without analysing credibility of the person, Umesh Sinha, who has made all allegations against the CM in the CD.
legal experts and police officers investigating the scam have found several serious contradictions of Sinha’s statements played out in the CD.
GP Singh, Inspector General of Police (IGP, Raipur Range), said that the bank scam was registered on September 1 2007 under sections 420, 406, 409, 467, 468, 201 and 120 (B) of Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Dr. S Malini, the forensic psychologist, who made Narco test on Sinha in June 2007 in Bangalore, was suspended on charges of adopting unethical practise in another case.
“Anyhow, the Narco, polygraph test or lie detector test have no legal acceptance in the court of law; it is just corroborative evidences,’’ the IGP said, adding, “Sinha who was arrested in the scam in Jan 2007, has serious criminal background.’’