Ranchi:
The opposition Congress in Chhattisgarh has alleged that Chief Minister Raman Singh and two of his ministers took bribes in crores in a seven-year-old bank fraud case. The Congress released a CD along with the transcript of a narco-analysis test of an accused, who the party alleges had claimed that bank officials had paid Rs 1 crore each to the Chief minister, two senior cabinet ministers, the then Director General of Police and others in 2006.
In August, 2006, Raipur-based Indira Priyadarshimi Mahila Nagarik Cooperative Bank went bust after the board of directors allegedly siphoned off over Rs 54.38 crore through false fixed deposit receipts (FDR), demand drafts, pay orders and distribution of loans to ineligible persons on the basis of fake documents. The Reserve Bank of India revoked the bank's licence in September 2007.
Bank Manager Umesh Sinha and directors of the cooperative bank were arrested in this connection. The CD of Mr Sinha's narco-analysis test was released by Chhattisgarh Congress' programme coordinator Bhupesh Baghel and party spokesperson Shailesh Nitin Trivedi at a press conference at the Congress Bhawan on Saturday.
The Congress has claimed that Dinesh Patel, son of former state party chief Nand Kumar Patel, was planning an expose against Mr Singh and his ministers on June 15. However, the father-son duo, along with several top Congress leaders, were killed in a Naxal attack in May.
"The Chief Minster and his ministers were paid a total of 7 crore rupees. Nand Kumar Patel and Dinesh Patel were collecting evidence against this government and they had sent an SMS about this. It is likely that they were killed because of this...They should resign immediately. The police should also file an FIR after these revelations," Mr Bhagel said yesterday.
The Congress has also demanded a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation against Raman Singh and his ministers.
Dismissing all allegations, Chhattisgarh Education Minister and BJP leader Brijmohan Agrawal has said that the Congress has a tradition of releasing CDs on any fake issue when polls come closer.