All 74 chit fund cases handed over to CBI: Tripura CM

Agartala (Tripura) [India] Apr 30 (ANI): Keeping its poll promise, the BJP-IPFT government in Tripura handed over all the 74 chit fund cases from the Special Investigation Team (SIT) to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb announced on Sunday.

The Chief Minister said that the central investigation agency has agreed to investigate 11 cases, which include Rose Valley, Response Group, Basil International, I-Core and Warris Group of Companies.

He said,' The CBI has already agreed to investigate 11 cases. We hope they will take up rest of the 63 cases too'.

The Chief Minister alleged that the erstwhile Left Front government had paved the way for exploitation of people through chit funds, which could be understood as they granted licenses to chit funds, No Objection Certificates (NOC) and also inaugurated events.

He was referring to former Chief Minister Manik Sarkar, who attended an event of the Rose Valley group in an amusement park here in 2008. Later Sarkar claimed that his government was not even aware that Rose Valley is a chit fund companies.

Deb said his government's vision is to make Tripura a corruption and drugs Free State as Prime Minister Narendra Modi had envisioned for the country.

The CBI last week grilled former Left Front Finance, PWD and Health Minister Badal Chowdhury along with former Social Welfare and Social Education Minister Bijita Nath in connection with a Kolkata-based Rose Valley chit fund scam case.

The CBI in June last year questioned Nath and CPI-M central committee member Gautam Das in connection with the Rose Valley chit fund scam.

However, the CPIM alleged that CBI was targeting their leaders with political motivation. (ANI)