Just a few days after BJP president Amit Shah charged that the Saradha chit fund scam money was used to finance the Burdwan terror blast, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) on Wednesday maintained that the CBI has so far not found any evidence to prove that the scam money was being used by Bangladeshi terror outfits in West Bengal.
In a written reply in the lok Sabha, Minister of State in the PMO Jitendra Singh replied in the negative to a question whether the Government had sought details of the CBI probe into the Saradha scam after reports indicated that a part of the money was routed to Bangladesh to fund terror activities.
The question was asked by BJP MP from Karnataka Prahlad Joshi Singh, who also sought to know whether the CBI had come across any such transactions during the probe, to which the Minister said in a written reply “the investigation has so far not revealed any such transaction whether money was routed to Bangladesh to fund terror activities.”
The BJP was quick to clarify and rebut media reports that there were any contradictions and conflict between the party and the Government on the Saradha scam issue.West Bengal in-charge of the BJP Sidharth Nath Singh said the scam was being investigated by a host of agencies like ED, SFIO, NIA and CBI and a final report of all the investigations was yet to be filed.
Singh pointed out that the Minister’s reply was essentially related to his Ministry DOPT, where the CBI reports. The BJP leader pointed out that the ED and SFIO were essentially investigating the issues related to money laundering.
“The Saradha scam is being investigated by the ED, SFIO and CBI. The Burdwan blast is being investigated by the NIA.The final reports of the investigations are yet to come. The ED and SFIO essentially investigate the issues related to money laundering,” he said.Singh said the Minister is on record that no clean chit has been given to anyone.
“..Therefore, it is requested that the media should restrain from giving a clean chit when lives of one crore people are involved. Moreover, the Communist Party should come out of cricketing phraseology of match fixing between the BJP and TMC. There is only one match fixing for the BJP and that is with the people of Bengal,” said the BJP leader in a statement.
Meanwhile, standing firmly by his party’s stand, Bengal BJP president Rahul Sinha on Thursday said even before his party made such claims a majority of Bangladeshi newspapers had alleged that there were links between the Khagragarh blast and the chit fund money. Speaking to the media, Sinha said it was not the duty of the CBI to investigate the money laundering part of the chit fund scam which was being done by other central agencies like the ED and SFIO.
Addressing a rally in Kolkata on Sunday, Shah had alleged that the Saradha chit fund money was used in the October 2 Burdwan blast, which is being probed for links with the terror outfit Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB).
“The Saradha chit fund money was used in the Burdwan blast. The NIA is not being allowed to probe the blast properly. Hurdles are being created. It is being done in order to save TMC leaders who are involved in the blast,” Shah had alleged, attacking the Trinamool Congress.
As the Opposition, especially Trinamool Congress (TMC) attacked Shah, Union Minister Babul Supriyo, elected on a BJP ticket from West Bengal, expressed surprise over Jitendra Singh’s statement and alleged that the ruling TMC and its MPs had links with terror plots in Bangladesh.
“I came to know about Jitendra Singh’s statement a little while back. The State Government was instrumental in destroying evidence that could prove the State Government’s, TMC’s or their MPs’ connection with the terror plot that is not only West Bengal centric but also finds its way into Bangladesh and neighbouring countries,” Supriyo told reporters outside Parliament.However, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Venkaiah Naidu refused to get into the controversy saying “you ask the minister and the party president.” “I do not comment on each and everything and you cannot expect me to comment on my president,” he said.
Congress leader Veerappa Moily attacked the BJP president saying he should understand the sensitivity of the issue as it deals with a close neighbour.
“He should not forget he is admitting that Indian money is being used to finance terror activities. It is a very damaging statement. Either he is irresponsible or he is making political statements to malign some political parties in West Bengal,” he said.Demanding an apology from Shah to the country and people of West Bengal, Moily said his Government denies that there was any resource sharing.
Voicing a similar demand, TMC leader Sudip Bandyopadhyay said: “Amit Shah is basically an uninformed person. He has no knowledge of the subject, nor any idea of what he has to say in a public meeting”.
However, CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury found the Minister’s statement “strange and contradictory” to what Shah had claimed in the public meeting that there was a link that had been established and that is why the National Investigation Agency is there.
POINT-COUNTER POINT
In a written reply in the lok Sabha, Minister of State in the PMO Jitendra Singh replied in the negative to a question whether the Government had sought details of the CBI probe into the Saradha scam after reports indicated that a part of the money was routed to Bangladesh to fund terror activities
The question was asked by BJP MP from Karnataka Prahlad Joshi Singh who also sought to know whether the CBI had come across any such transactions during the probe, to which the Minister said in a written reply “the investigation has so far not revealed any such transaction whether money was routed to Bangladesh to fund terror activities”
The BJP was quick to clarify and rebut media reports that there were any contradictions and conflict between the party and the Government on the Saradha scam issue
West Bengal in-charge of the BJP Sidharth Nath Singh said the scam was being investigated by a host of agencies like ED, SFIO, NIA and CBI and a final report of all the investigations was yet to be filed