By Soumitra Nandi
Kolkata: In connection of their probe in the Saradha scam, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Monday sent a notice to the Trinamool Congress (TMC) asking them to submit all financial details for the years 2010-2014, including the sale details of the Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s painting which was bought by the Sarada boss Sudipta Sen.
The Special Crime Branch of CBI investigating the Saradha ponzi scam has resent a notice to Trinamool Congress all-India General Secretary Subrata Bakshi seeking details of the party's accounts. The letter was sent through speed post.
A CBI source said that the notice has been sent to Bakshi as he is presently holding the post of general secretary after the recent exit of Mukul Roy who was removed from the post allegedly after speaking against the party line about the ongoing Saradha investigation.
“We have asked for details of sources of income of the party during the period 2010-2013 and also the expenditure pattern,” said a CBI official. According to reports, the notice has been served under Section 91 (summons to produce document or other thing) of the Criminal Procedure Code.
According to sources, the party had been given a week's time to respond to the notice. “We will decide on our next course of action and whether we would interrogate Roy and Bakshi only after examining the documents,” said the official.
Roy had been earlier quizzed by CBI in the Saradha case, soon after which he had started to apparently disassociate himself from Trinamool Congress.
The CBI had called up the TMC party office on April 2, wanting to know in which address they would send the letter to Bakshi. As he was not available at the office the CBI decided to dispatch the letter directly to the party office.
The West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC chief Mamata Banerjee had expressed her strong displeasure over the CBI's phone call to TMC Bhavan.
Reacting to this, Trinamool secretary general Partha Chatterjee said the party would reply if it saw the notice.
"Every day we get thousands of letters and we reply to those which we find are worthy of a reply. If we come across such a notice and it deserves a reply we will do that," Chatterjee said iterating the party`s stand that the CBI was working at the behest of the BJP which is ruling at the centre.