Guilty in Saradha scam must face severe punishment, says BJP

Amid reports that former finance minister P. Chidambaram's wife Nalini has been examined by the CBI in connection with the alleged multi-crore Saradha chit fund scam, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Siddharth Nath Singh on Monday called for a thorough investigation, and said anyone found guilty, must be duly punished as per law.

"The Saradha scam is not an ordinary scam because the scam is by looting and cheating the very poor people of this country, which is almost about 17 lakh of them. Therefore, anyone who is involved in the Saradha scam needs to be investigated independently, be it Chidambaram's wife or any TMC MP, including the Chief Minister," Singh said.

"So, they need to be investigated properly. And in that process if somebody is found guilty, they must be given severe punishment as per the law of the country," he added.

Nalini Chidambaram, a Supreme Court lawyer, was examined over the weekend by the CBI in connection with the legal fees paid to her by the Saradha Group.

According to sources, Saradha chairman Sudipta Sen, who is presently in jail, had mentioned about hiring Nalini as a lawyer at the request of Manoranjana Sinh, the estranged wife of Congress leader Mantang Sinh.

Nalini's team has, however, so far denied that she was questioned by the CBI in connection with the Saradha scam.