Guwahati: Residence of former education and health minister of Assam and an incumbent Congress MLA, Dr Himanta Bishwa Sarma and office of the satellite TV channel owned by his wife were among the 14 places in Assam where sleuths of the CBI conducted search operations on Thursday in connection with the multi-crore Saradha chit fund scam as part.
The CBI team also searched residence and office of another Congress MLA Anjan Dutta, residence of former DGP of Assam Police , Shankar Baruah and residence of popular singer Sadananda Gogoi in Guwahati city among others places. Two more premises in Dhubri town in western Assam were also searched by a CBI team in connection with the same case.
After conducting search at the residence of former minister Dr Sarma, the CBI team searched the office of News Live, a satellite TV channel owned by Sarma’s wife Riniki Bhuyan Sarma. No comment was forthcoming from Sarma while the executive editor of the TV channel Paragmoni Aditya informed that the CBI team examined documents and CDs related to advertisements given by Saradha Group in the channel during the search operation.
The CBI also conducted raid at the residence and business office of another senior Congress MLA, Anjan Dutta. The Congress MLA had reportedly sold off a Guwahati-based media outlet owned by him to Saradha group in the past.
Residence of former Assam police DGP, Shankar Baurah was also searched by the CBI team . Baruah later declined to make any comment on the CBI operation.Residence of a popular singer and filmmaker in Assam, Sadananda Gogoi was also searched by the CBI in the city. Gogoi was appointed as the secretary of Assam Publication Board when Dr Himanta Bishwa Sarma was the education minister, but resigned immediately after Saradha Group chief Sudipto Sen’s letter to the CBI was made public.
A biscuit factory of Saradha group was among the two premises searched by a CBI team in Dhubri in western Assam.
Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi said that his government had no knowledge about the CBI search operations in the state and informed that the CBI team had come from Kolkata.
He hoped that the CBI investigation into the multi-crore chit fund scandal would bring respite to the common people of the state who were duped by Saradha Group.