Ranchi:
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday carried out a raid at the residence of former state minister and Congress leader Bandhu Tirkey here in connection with 34th National Games scam. On which, the Congress leader reacted by accusing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of being behind the raid.
“Whenever there are polls in state, this happens… If we oppose wrongful BJP policies, they scare non-BJP members using CBI. I don’t have a problem with raids, if they find anything… make it public. I’ll not be afraid and I’ll fight,” said Tirkey.
The Congress leader served as a sports minister when the tender process for the games started and was allocated.
Meanwhile, Congress president of Jharkhand unit, Rajesh Thakur pointed out at the gap between the day of conducting raid at Congress leader’s residence and the announcement of the elections in the state.
He said, “Agenda behind such raids by CBI is clear. Where was CBI for last 6 yrs? If someone wants to win elections through CBI then it’s not possible. It’s people who will decide. Yesterday the polls were notified and raids were conducted today.”
Meanwhile, the Bye-Election to the Mandar (ST) assembly seat were declared today (May 26). The polls will take place on June 23. The nomination window for candidates will close on June 6. Results will be declared on June 26.
Earlier in April, the Jharkhand High Court had directed the CBI to investigate the matter. After this, the CBI took over the case from Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) and registered two FIRs.
The first FIR was related to irregularities in the construction of a mega-sports complex for the 34th National Games, and the second related to irregularities in procuring sports equipment and organizing the National Games.
As per the reports, in 2008 the then Sports Minister Bandhu Tirkey allegedly approved the files related to tenders.
In April, Tirkey was disqualified as a member of the Legislative Assembly after being convicted in a disproportionate assets (DA) case.
(With inputs from ANI)
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