‘Can’t take swindler’s charge seriously’

Jul 23, 2013 - Rabindra Nath Choudhury |

Age Correspondent

Chhattisgarh chief minister Raman Singh on Monday broke his silence over charges of graft made against him and four of his Cabinet ministers by a bank scam accused saying, “A swindler’s accusations cannot be taken seriously.”

“It is ironic that a man who has been accused of swindling `30 crores in a bank is hurling charges against others. Can a fraudster be trusted? Still, a probe is on by the state government to ascertain veracity of the scamster’s statement made during his purported narco-test, captured in the CD being circulated by Congress,” the chief minister told mediapersons here.
He was referring to the purported narco-statement of Umesh Sinha, the then manager of a private bank — Indira Priyadarshini Mahila Sahayata Bank — in which he alleged that the chief minister and four of his Cabinet ministers were bribed by him. The bank scam accused was allegedly involved in siphoning of depositors’ money to the tune of `54 crores.
Describing the charges as “completely rubbish and politically motivated”, the chief minister claimed that the issue will have no impact on the ruling BJP’s prospects in the ensuing Assembly polls in the state, scheduled to be held by the end of the year.
In a related development, Rita Tiwari, the then chairman of the now-defunct bank, denied the charges made by the bank scam accused that bribes were given to the chief minister and four of his Cabinet ministers at her behest. She said the statements made by the accused during the course of his narco-test were found contradictory.

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