Saradha scam: Mukul Roy quizzed by CBI, wants truth to come out

Trinamool Congress general secretary Mukul Roy, considered West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's right hand man, Friday faced a four and a half hour grilling from the CBI in the multi-crore rupee Saradha ponzi scam.

Coming out of the Central Bureau of Investigation office at Salt Lake's CGO complex in the afternoon, Roy said he wanted the truth to come out and the investigation to move in the right direction.

" I met the investigators today. They have questioned me for a long time. I have told them that if they need me for the sake of the probe, I will meet them and cooperate not once, but every time when they call me," Roy told media persons.

"Let the truth be revealed. Let the investigation move in the right direction," the former union minister said.

Roy iterated that from the outset he had been saying he was prepared to join the probe and cooperate with the CBI.

"Even this morning I have said I am going to the agency for the sake of the probe. I arrived exactly at 10.30 a.m., the time scheduled for me," he said.

Earlier, on his arrival at the CBI office, Roy said: "I am here to cooperate with the CBI."

Roy, Trinamool's key organiser, claimed he had not done anything unethical. "Never in my life, in my personal capacity or with regard to party work, have I done anything unethical."

Summoned Jan 12 by the CBI, which is probing the scandal on orders of the Supreme Court, Roy had twice obtained deferrals for his appearance.

He had been frequenting Delhi, and talking to lawyers as his party moved the apex court seeking that the CBI probe be monitored by Supreme Court.

In the morning, as Roy boarded the car outside his central Kolkata house, Trinamool loyalists shouted slogans. "Mukul Roy zindabad, Mamata Banerjee zindabada, "Stop CBI conspiracy against Trinamool", they said.

A large number of Trinamool workers also were present outside the CGO complex premises.

While four of Trinamool leaders including state Transport Minister Madan Mitra are behind bars, the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) have grilled a number of party parliamentarians and legislators.

Trinamool's suspended Rajya Sabha member Kunal Ghosh, now under arrest for his alleged role in the scam, has claimed Roy's complicity in the graft. Asif Khan, a one-time close associate of Roy and now under arrest in connection with a cheating case, has also accused Roy of wrongdoings.

Roy, credited as the architect of its victory in all recent elections and a major player in extending the party base as also in organising defections from other parties, has been under fire for his alleged meetings and telephonic conversations with Saradha Group chief Sudipta Sen.

But Roy and the Trinamool have vehemently denied all the charges.