Kolkata : Hitting out against allegations that he was enjoying undue benefits in jail, arrested West Bengal Transport Minister Madan Mitra Saturday said an all-party delegation can visit him and see the condition he is living in.
He threw the challenge to his detractors a day after the Central Bureau of Investigation counsel sought the court’s intervention in ensuring that the authorities strictly adhere to the jail code with regard to Mitra.
But the senior Trinamool Congress leader, lodged in the Alipore Correctional Home, said if the accusations were false, his detractor will have to “rub their noses” in the ground.
“Those who are saying that I am getting additional facilities in jail, I invite them… all parties can come together to jail and see the condition I am in,” Mitra, arrested by the CBI in connection with the multi-crore rupee Saradha group chit fund scam, told reporters while being taken to a state-run SSKM hospital for medical check-up. by the
“One minute, one minute, halt for a minute,” he told the policemen, who immediately obliged the minister, a close associate of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
“If the allegations being levelled are proved false, then all of them (the critics) will have to rub their noses on the ground before the common people,” he said.
A CBI counsel had told the court of Judicial Magistrate M.K. Roy, before which Mitra was presented Friday after the expiry of his judicial custody, that the minister was enjoying undue benefits like access to mobile phone, home-cooked food and was frequently being allowed to meet family members.
“The jail code is not strictly followed and the minister is allowed to enjoy undue benefits. The court should direct the jail authorities to ensure that the jail code is strictly adhered to,” the counsel said.
The court Friday yet again denied Mitra bail and extended his judicial custody till Jan 16. Mitra was arrested Dec 12 for his alleged complicity in the scam including conspiring with Saradha chief and scam kingpin Sudipta Sen and deriving huge financial benefits.
SSKM director Pradip Mitra said the minister was brought to the hospital for routine check up. “There is no specific complaint. The board members examined him and adjusted the medicinal doses.”