Claiming that the over Rs. 11,000 crore PNB scam involving billionaire jeweller Nirav Modi was only a fraction of a mammoth fraud on the Indian banks, Mamata Banerjee asserted that it took place during demonetisation.
KOLKATA (PTI) — West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday demanded a thorough probe into the Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud case alleging other banks are also involved in the scam.
Claiming that the over Rs. 11,000 crore PNB scam involving billionaire jeweller Nirav Modi was only a fraction of a mammoth fraud on the Indian banks, Mamata Banerjee asserted that it took place during demonetisation.
“Big money laundering happened during demonetisation. There are more banks involved. The full truth must come out,” the Trinamool Congress supremo said in a tweet.
The BJP-led NDA government had demonetised Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 notes on November 8, 2016 in a bid to curb circulation of black money.
Alleging that key officials were changed in some banks during demonetisation, the chief minister also demanded an investigation into the people who replaced them and those involved in effecting the transfers or removals.
The scam has led to a huge political slug-fest between the BJP and the Congress over the PNB scam with both parties blaming each other for allowing Nirav Modi and his associates in the fraud to flourish during their respective tenures.
The BJP is rapidly emerging as a strong opposition in West Bengal, where the Trinamool Congress secured a second term in the 2016 Assembly elections.
Nirav Modi, along with his family and his uncle and business partner Mehul Choksi, left India in January before the Central Bureau of Investigation had filed a case against him. The CBI has asked Interpol to arrest the celebrity jeweler, who is currently in New York.
