Trinamool denies getting CBI notice, opposition seeks Mamata's reply

Kolkata, March 10 (IANS) The Trinamool Congress on Tuesday denied having received any CBI notice seeking details of its accounts of four years, but the opposition put the onus on party chief and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to come clean on the issue.

"We have not received any such notice. We will respond if we receive it," Trinamool secretary general and state education minister Partha Chatterjee told media persons in reply to queries whether the agency has sent such a notice.

A section of the media has reported that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), probing the multi-crore-rupee Saradha scam, has sent notice and sought a detailed report of Trinamool Congress's accounts from 2010 to 2014.

The development comes in the wake of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alleging that the Trinamool has received donations from a dubious company involved in money laundering.

BJP national secretary Siddharth Nath Singh last week alleged that despite recording a profit of just Rs.33,000, "Trinetra Consultant Private Limited had donated Rs.1.4 crore to Trinamool in 2013-14 and again donated Rs.3.5 crore in 2014-15".

BJP state unit chief Rahul Sinha and Communist Party of India-Marxist(CPI-M) MP Mohammad Salim said the onus was on Banerjee to come clean on the issue.

"Mukul Roy was recently removed as the Trinamool's general secretary. He has shirked off his responsibility saying he is no more occupying the post. Similarly, the new incumbent (Subrata Bakshi) will say he was not the general secretary during that period.

"Therefore, the entire responsibility lies with the party supremo and the chief minister and she must give an answer," the BJP leader said.

Echoing Sinha's views, CPI-M leader Salim said: "The investigation must reach the doorstep of Mamata Banerjee. The general secretaries are mere appointees; it is she who is answerable."