Saradha chit-fund scam: CBI grills Mukul Roy (Lead)

Kolkata, Jan 30 (IANS) Trinamool Congress general secretary and former railway minister Mukul Roy, considered West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's right hand man, Friday appeared before the CBI for questioning in the multi-crore rupee Saradha ponzi scam.

"I am here to cooperate with the CBI," said Roy while entering the probe agency's office at the CGO Complex in Salt Lake here amid tight security.

Roy, Trinamool's key organiser, reiterated that he had not done anything unethical. "Never in my life, have I done anything unethical".

Summoned Jan 12 by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which is probing the scandal on orders of the Supreme Court, Roy had twice obtained deferrals for his appearance.

He had been frequenting Delhi, and talking to lawyers as his party moved the apex court seeking that the CBI probe be monitored by Supreme Court.

Earlier, as Roy boarded the car outside his central Kolkata house, Trinamool loyalists shouted slogans. "Mukul Roy zindabad, Mamata Banerjee zindabada, "Stop CBI conspiracy against Trinamool", they said.

While four of Trinamool leaders including state transport minister Madan Mitra are behind bars, the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) have grilled a number of party parliamentarians and legislators.

Trinamool Congress's suspended Rajya Sabha member Kunal Ghosh, now under arrest for his alleged role in the scam, has claimed Roy's complicity in the graft. Asif Khan, a one-time close associate of Roy and now under arrest in connection with a cheating case, has also accused Roy of wrongdoings.

Roy, credited as the architect of its victory in all recent elections and a major player in extending the party base as also in organising defections from other parties, has been under fire for his alleged meetings and telephonic conversations with Saradha Group chief Sudipta Sen.

But Roy and the Trinamool have vehemently denied all the charges.