Mukul Roy seeks 15 days time, CBI says no

There is speculation that Roy might appear before the CBI in connection the Saradha chit fund scam

Trinamool Congress (TMC) general secretary Mukul Roy, who has been asked by CBI to appear before it in connection with the multi-crore Saradha ponzi scam, met party chief and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today. Soon after arriving at Kolkata from Delhi, Roy met her at the new state secretariat 'Nabanna' in Howrah.

Roy did not take questions from the media after the meeting. However, earlier during the day, amid speculations that he might appear before CBI tomorrow. Roy, a Rajya Sabha MP and former railway minister, said he would contact the agency and inform when he would appear. "I was in Delhi. I have come back. I'll contact them (CBI). I will certainly inform when and what time I'll go. I will also talk to our party leadership," Roy told reporters here. "I reiterate that I am not involved in any immoral act in my life," the senior TMC leader said. CBI had on Monday asked Roy to appear before it in connection with the probe drawing angry reaction from the party which accused BJP of using the agency as a 'political tool'. Trinamool Congress during the day ruled out removing Roy from the party post in the wake of CBI asking him to appear before it in connection with the Saradha scam and accused BJP of using the investigating agency as its political tool against the party.

TMC Secretary-general and state Education Minister Partha Chatterjee told a press conference here that questions wer being raised about the conduct of CBI.

The party, he said, has entrusted Upen Biswas, former Additional Director of CBI and now a minister in Mamata Banerjee government, to advise the party regarding CBI.

"The question (of removing Roy) does not arise. He will remain as the party's (all India) General Secretary and also as MP (of Rajya Sabha). Only because one has been called (by CBI) has he to be removed ?" "BJP is using it (CBI) as a tool for political vindictiveness. Information is being given in advance as part of the conspiracy to harrass and intimidate...Questions have arisen in the minds of the people about the conduct of CBI.

"Since the day CBI started probing the Saradha case in Bengal, in the name of investigation it is conducting itself at the dictates of BJP leaders to harrass the TMC leaders and is being used to serve the political vendetta," he alleged. Upen Biswas was the head of CBI's Anti-Corruption Bureau in East Zone. During his tenure in CBI, he dealt with several cases, including the Bihar fodder scam.