Finally, Sudip Bandopadhyay to appear before CBI on January 3

Kolkata: Putting speculations about him avoiding the CBI to rest, Trinamul Congress MP Sudip Bandopadhyay on Sunday said that he would appear before the Central agency on January 3 to face questioning in connection with the investigation into the Rose Valley chit fund scam.

He also expressed his anguish saying that he was being subjected to an unnecessary controversy over the summons.

“I was first called on November 15, but I couldn’t go as Parliament was in session. Then they called me again in the last last week of December asking me to appear on December 30. I told them I want to come on January 18. But the CBI told me to come on January 3, to which I agreed,” he said.

The CBI had issued summons to him along with another TMC MP, Tapas Paul, on December 27 in connection with the alleged Rose Valley scam, one of the cases being probed by the investigating agency as part of chit fund scams. Paul was arrested on Friday, which gave rise to speculations that Bandopadhyay could once again skip the summons, sources said.While Mr Bandopadhyay urged the CBI to postpone his appearance date to January 18, the agency turned down his plea, arguing that the date was rescheduled from December 30 to January 3 on his request, sources added.

A senior CBI official said based on the questioning of Mr Bandopadhyay, the agency would decide on the next line of action.

“Earlier, we had called him twice, but he did not turn up. He was again called on December 30 but he said he would come on January 3. So now if he does not turn up, we will look into other options after January 3,” the official told PTI on the condition of anonymity.