Saradha-terror link: Probe still on, says Prakash Javadekar - Livemint

A file photo of minister for environment and forests Prakash Javadekar. Photo: Pradeep Gaur/Mint

New Delhi: Amid a controversy over the government’s response that probe has so far not revealed links between Saradha chit fund money and terror, Union minister Prakash Javadekar on Wednesday said that investigations are still on and Trinamool Congress (TMC) should not “pre-judge” findings.

Javadekar’s remarks are seen as an attempt to douse a controversy that kicked up after minister of state for personnel Jitendra Singh in a written reply in Lok Sabha said that probe has so far not revealed that Saradha chit fund money was used to finance terror, contradicting Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Amit Shah ’s allegation of such a link.

Addressing a rally in Kolkata on Sunday, Shah had alleged that Saradha chit fund money was used in the 2 October Burdwan blast, which is being probed for links with Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) terror outfit.

“The fact is that there was a Saradha scam and millions of Bengalis have suffered and many Trinamool leaders have benefited and there is investigation on as to where all the money has gone,” Javadekar, the minister for environment and forests said. He said that while some of this money has been traced, some is yet to be traced.

“As far as Burdwan terror plot is concerned, the investigation is on as to from where they have got money. What the minister has replied is the status as of today, that conclusive proof is not yet there. But I am very sure both investigations will bring truth to the fore. So Trinamool should not jump and prejudge the enquiry,” he said. The government and BJP had come under attack from the opposition parties after Singh’s reply in Lok Sabha.

TMC leader Sudip Bandyopadhyay hit out at BJP president saying, “Amit Shah is basically an uninformed person. He has no knowledge of the subject nor any idea of what he has to say in a public meeting.”

He said Shah should accept what the government has said in Parliament as every day they make wild allegations against TMC chief Mamata Banerjee . Congress leader Veerappa Moily had attacked Shah saying he should understand the sensitivity of the issue as it deals with a close neighbour.