After being interrogated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) over his alleged involvement in the Saradha multi-crore rupee scam, Shankudeb Panda was sacked from the party on Monday.
Members of the TMC disciplinary committee held an emergency meeting, where in they decided to remove Panda from his post of the party’s general secretary. The CBI on Monday interrogated Panda in connection with the scam. This is the second time in one month that Panda has been questioned by the agency.
Sources in te CBI said that Panda on Monday provided all documents which were asked by the investigating officers. However, the investigating officers were not satisfied with Panda’s reply on December 2.
On Monday, CBI officers first asked him to clarify on the points that he had left unanswered. According to information, Panda had provided necessary documents to substantiate all his answers.
He entered the CBI office at Salt Lake around 12.30 pm, where he was interrogated for around two hours. Sources said that Panda had cooperated with CBI officers and ensured all help into the probe. After going through the documents, investigating officers will decide whether they should question Panda again.
It may be mentioned that Panda was attached with the functioning of a news channel owned by the Saradha Group. The investigating agency would summon two more people, who were involved in the functioning of the media section of the Saradha Group.
Meanwhile, the CBI conducted raids at 20 places, including 18 in West Bengal, in connection with chit fund scam of Angel Agritech Limited. Two others were in Jharkhand and Odisha. Raids were conducted at residences of senior officials of the group including SK Najbulla, Hasibul Haque, Sunirmal Goswami, Arindam Pal and Basudeb Ghosh.