None involved in Saradha scam to be spared: Gogoi

Says the Govt would hand over cases of financial fraud against 11 companies to CBI

Taking a tough stand on Saradha scam, Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi said, "No one, be it a minister or a top government official, would be spared if found guilty of patronising bogus deposit collecting companies in the state". 

Gogoi's comments came in the wake of the multi-crore Saradha chit-fund scam, which rocked eastern India, and allegations of involvement of a cabinet minister of Gogoi government and a former director general of police in the scam. Demands for action against the cabinet minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who is in charge of the health and education ministries, have been growing louder in Assam. "If anybody has given protection to these companies, then according to me, they are the abettors of the crime and should be equally punished," said Gogoi.  Stating that he was in favour of a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) investigation into the matter, as the fraud deposit collecting companies had cheated thousands of poor people in the state; Gogoi said a team of CBI officials would reach Guwahati to examine the cases registered by Assam police against these companies. After the scrutiny, the agency is expected to take up a few of these cases for investigation, he added.

The Chief Minister said henceforth any deposit collecting company would have to take prior permission from the deputy commissioner before starting operations in a district.

"The deputy commissioners will verify the companies' antecedents and will also see whether the scheme for which they will be raising money from the people is viable or not and only then allow them to operate," he said.

Gogoi said the Government would hand over cases of financial fraud against 11 companies, including Saradha Group, Rose Valley, Unipay-2U, Jeevan Suraksha, Prayag, Abyss Assam Group of Companies, Basil International Limited, Alliance Vision Marketing Limited, Daffodils Group of Companies to CBI.