The gove
rnment on Wednesday told Parliament it had found no link between the October 2 blast in Burdwan, West Bengal, and the multi-crore Saradha scam in the state. The statement goes against BJP chief Amit Shah’s allegation that money from the chit fund scam was “used in the blast”.
Jitendra Singh, minister of state in the prime minister’s office, gave a written reply in Rajya Sabha there was “no link”. The minister also clarified there was no evidence yet that money from the scam was sent to Bangladesh.
“The investigation has so far not revealed any such transaction where money was routed to Bangladesh to fund terrorist activities,” Singh said in his written response.
Shah, while speaking in Kolkata on Sunday, had alleged that Mamata Banerjee’s government and her party, Trinamool Congress, were shielding accused in the Saradha scam.
“Saradha chit fund money was used in the Burdwan blast. The NIA is not being allowed to probe the blast properly. Hurdles are being created. It is being done in order to save TMC leaders who are involved in the blast,” Shah had alleged, attacking the Trinamool Congress.
The minister was asked whether the government has sought details of the probe into the Saradha chit fund scam after reports indicated that a part of the money was routed to Bangladesh to fund terror activities. Singh replied that
government has not sought details of the probe.
To another question on whether the Saradha chief has admitted that he paid large sums to several people to influence the case in his favour, the minister today said “the matter is under investigation.”
On October 2, a blast in a house in the Khagragarh area of Burdwan in West Bengal killed two people and critically injured a third person. Investigators suspect people who were living in the house belong to a Bangladeshi militant organisation known as the Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh.
