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West Bengal Transport and Sports Minister Madan Mitra, accused of being linked to the Saradha chit fund scam, yesterday alleged he was arrested after orders came from New Delhi.
Giving details about his interrogation at the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) office here on Friday, Mitra told a court: “Everything was going fine and a senior official told me that I could go home after my statement was recorded.”
“Joint director Rajiv Singh offered me tea. Singh said my statement is being recorded and once it is done I may go home,” Mitra said in the Chief Judicial Magistrate’s court after seeking permission.
“I was having my tea when suddenly an officer came to me and said we have got a call from Delhi we will have to arrest you,” said the senior Trinamool Congress leader, who was presented in the court in Alipur by the CBI seeking his custody.
The judge rejected Mitra’s bail plea, and remanded him in CBI custody until December 16.
The minister, a close associate of Trinamool chief and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, said he was hospitalised after falling sick on November 17.
“Soon after my release, I approached the CBI that I was ready to be examined and accordingly I went to the CBI office after being called as a witness.”
As soon as he finished speaking, the battery of defence lawyers started shouting, calling the CBI a “caged parrot” and sought bail for the minister.
Meanwhile, Banerjee hit the streets yesterday to protest Mitra’s arrest, and wondered if Prime Minister Narendra Modi should be arrested for the Sahara scandal as he was photographed with the Sahara group chief who is now behind bars.
