Trinamool minister Madan Mitra in CBI custody, he tells court ‘order’ to arrest him came from Delhi

Mitra was arrested by the CBI after five hours of interrogation on Friday, the most high-profile arrest so far in the investigation.
At a rally at Esplanade, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee alleged “The CBI has become a front organisation of the BJP, and is functioning like the RSS. It has become a slave of the BJP government.” The CBI should be disbanded, she said.

In the court of the judicial magistrate, Mitra alleged he was arrested “following orders from Delhi”.

He told a packed courtroom: “I was called by the CBI on the 17th. I was in hospital then, and told them I would go once I was discharged. I kept my promise. All was well until 4.30 pm, when I was offered a cup of tea. They (CBI) said they would record my statement. All of a sudden, a person came along, and they said that they had got orders from Delhi, and they would have to arrest me.”

Seeking Mitra’s custody, CBI told the court that it needed to question him in view of his involvement in the “larger conspiracy” behind the Saradha scam. Defence lawyers vehemently opposed the argument.

Mitra arrived for the nearly two-and-a-half-hour hearing in a purple kurta and shawl after spending the night at the Salt Lake Electronics Complex police station. He was seen nodding off during the hearing.

Hundreds of lawyers from the Alipore and Bankshal courts led by Baiswanar Chatterjee, chief of the TMC’s legal cell, thronged the court complex, and mounted a verbal attack against the central government and CBI. Chatterjee called the arrest a “political conspiracy”.

The lawyers also demanded a ban on reporting the proceedings. “CBI and media are together in the conspiracy,” they shouted, alleging a “trial by media”.

As Mitra was being led away, TMC supporters attempted to break the police cordon. In the vandalism and stone-throwing that followed, some policemen were injured.

At the CBI office, Mitra told reporters, “I am being framed. I am a victim of a political conspiracy. I have nothing to say other than what the Chief Minister has already said.”

In Bhowanipore, Mitra’s stronghold, TMC cadres did not allow shops to open, and hawkers were asked to join the protest rally. The TMC youth wing blocked railway lines at Basirhat for two hours.

Road blockades were reported from Taki and Kamarhati in North 24-Parganas, and from Burdwan, Howrah and several other places.