April 27, 2018: In a confident voice, CPIM Central Committee Member and MLA, Badal Choudhury said that he was not involved in Rose Valley Chut Fund scam and did not derived any benefits from the Company using his position as Finance Minister during Manik Sarkar-led LF Government in Tripura. He also said, the LF Government took initiatives against Roase Valley Chit Fund and approached CBI for investigation.
One day after CBI interrogated him, Choudhury addressed a press conference today at CPIM state office in Agartala.
“CBI summoned me as a witness and I co-operated with them. They asked me about few issues. I reiterate that I have no weak point relating to the scam”, Badal Choudhury said in a confident tune.
Reacting sharply over a report published in certain media that CBI had asked him about a benami property in Kolkata, Choudhury categorically said that the report was baseless. In a challenging tune, Choudhury said that he would tender resignation if proved guilty.
Speaking about initiatives taken by the erstwhile LF Government, Badal Choudhury said, “We sent 37 cases pertaining to Chit Funds to CBI for investigation and CBI accepted all but three cases. Rose valley was one of the three cases that CBI excluded from 37 cases”.
Detailing further, he said, “As the case against Rose Valley was of only around Rs 15000, CBI refused to accept the case against Rose Valley”. Later the LF Government moved the High Court of Tripura and accordingly the Court ordered the State Government to form SIT for investigation. “Now chairman of Rose Valley – Gautam Kundu – is in custody of CBI and they could interrogate him about who had taken money from the company”, he commented.
Commenting on Rose Valley park at Amtali near Agartala, Badal Choudhury said, “It was built illegally”. He said that State Government did not allot land to Rose Valley for setting up the entertainment park. He said, the company procured land from people and encroached on the govt land.
It may be mentioned, Finance Minister of LF Government Bhanu Lal Saha placed papers in the Assembly and claimed that the Rose Valley company looted Rs 35 thousand from Tripura. Commenting on Bhanu Lal Saha’s statement, Badal Choudhury said he was not aware of this.
