CBI sets up SIT to probe Saradha scam

The CBI on Monday constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the Saradha chit fund case in which investors in four States were allegedly duped of over Rs. 10,0000000000. The SIT, to be headed by Joint Director Rajeev Singh, will also probe the role of market regulators such as Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and RBI. CBI spokesperson Kanchan Prasad said the SIT, constituted under Joint Director (Northeast), will have agency officers from West Bengal, Odisha, the Northeast and Bihar. “The SIT will soon collect all relevant documents before registering the FIR in the matter. The CBI will also look into the larger conspiracy angle,” Prasad said. The team was formed in the wake of the Supreme Court order on a PIL on Friday asking the CBI to probe the matter and directing the State police forces to cooperate with the Central agency in the investigation. The CBI will also look into the role of regulators such as SEBI, authorities under the Companies Act and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) as directed by the apex court, agency sources said. “Investigation conducted so far puts a question mark on the role of regulatory authorities like SEBI, Registrar of Companies and officials of the RBI within whose respective jurisdictions and areas of operation the scam not only took birth but flourished unhindered,” a bench headed by Justice T S Thakur said in its order. The SIT will take a legal opinion to decide whether one case has to be registered or separate cases are required to be filed, the sources said.