Trinamool MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay was arrested by CBI in connection with Rose Valley chit fund scam
Trinamool lawmaker Sudip Bandyopadhyay will have to spend the next 14 days in jail. A court in Bhubaneswar rejected his bail plea and sent him to judicial custody till January 25.
"For the first time in my 45 year political career, they are trying to tarnish my image, they are targeting opposition to demonetisation. The PMO is directing the whole thing. We will fight to the end," a defiant Mr Bandyopadhyay told reporters outside court.
Mr Bandyopadhyay has said he has been arrested for leading his party's opposition to the demonetisation programme. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which arrested him on January 3, says he has close links with Gautam Kundu, CMD of Rose Valley Group.
The Rose Valley and Saradha scams are about cases where lakhs of people have been cheated by ponzi schemes. Gautam Kundu was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in March 2015. The CBI says small investors have been cheated of Rs 17,000 crore by the Rose Valley Group.
The CBI lawyer argued in court that Sudip Bandyopadhyay and Gautam Kundu shared a mutually beneficial relationship. Sudip Bandyopadhyay's lawyer Dharanidhar Nayak told reporters, "CBI has not been able to substantiate the allegations made against him. CBI has not been able to produce a single piece of evidence. We had also prayed for bail on health grounds of Bandyopadhyay."
Yesterday, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee challenged the centre to arrest all her MPs. Ms Banerjee said her party would continue to oppose the step that hurt the state's economy badly.
Meanwhile, there were protests today at the CBI office in Bhubaneswar against the BJP by the state's ruling party Biju Janata Dal (BJD) workers. The CBI has raided BJD lawmaker Rabindra Jena's house after issuing a notice to the Balasore MP, asking him to appear before the agency on January 12 in connection with the Seashore Group chit fund scam. BJD supporters clashed with the police while trying to storm the CBI office. The CBI has raided other places too, including the house of Cuttack-Choudwar legislator Pravat Biswal as well in connection with the scam.