CBI probe against Roy, Sarma yet to reach conclusive end

New Delhi: Himanta Biswa Sarma and Mukul Roy, who had defected to the BJP from the Congress and the Trinamool Congress respectively, were among those who were questioned by the CBI in the Saradha scam but probe into their alleged involvement has not reached any conclusive end yet.

Amid the ongoing tussle between the West Bengal government and the Centre over probe into the Saradha scam in which the CBI wants to question Kolkata police commissioner Rajeev Kumar, Assam Congress has accused the CBI of going slow against Sarma, who had switched sides and joined BJP.

The CBI did not respond to questions on the dates the two have been questioned or have been searched in these cases.

"The CBI is yet to take any action against Sarma and investigations against him have stopped after he joined the BJP," Assam Pradesh Congress spokesman and former minister Pradyut Bordoloi said.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had alleged on Sunday night that Sarma, Assam's health and finance minister now, was involved in the chit fund scam, he said.

"He (Sarma) was investigated for his involvement in the scam while he was in Congress but after he joined the BJP, it (investigation) stopped," Banerjee said.

Sarma, who was a cabinet minister in the Congress government, was questioned by the CBI on November 26, 2014 in connection with its probe in Saradha chit fund scam.

He was asked to appear before the Special Investigation Team headed by the then Joint Director Rajiv Singh at CGO Complex in Kolkata.

He was questioned for his purported proximity with Saradha group chief Sudipta Sen, sources said.

A powerful minister in Tarun Gogoi Cabinet since 2001, Sarma was dropped by the chief minister after he spearheaded a campaign to dislodge him.