Centre using CBI to harass opposition parties, Mamata alleges

The CBI registered a new case against former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and others over alleged irregularities in land allocation in Gurgaon in 2009 and carried out searches at 20 locations in Delhi-NCR Friday.

Kolkata: Describing the CBI as one of the "allies" of the BJP-led central government, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Friday alleged that the Centre was using the agency to harass the opposition parties throughout the country. She called the CBI, which was yet to get a new director, "headless" and said it has now become a "spineless BJP". "So political vendetta continues. BJP & its 'allies' comprising multiple govt agencies harassing all allies of Oppn from Kol to Delhi & beyond," Banerjee tweeted. She also doubted whether the saffron party was "scared" and using the agencies in a "desperate" move. "From @yadavakhilesh to Behen Mayawati Ji, nobody is spared. From north to south. From east to west. Political vendetta by BJP. Are they scared? Are they desperate? One headless agency has now become spineless BJP," she added. The CBI registered a new case against former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and others over alleged irregularities in land allocation in Gurgaon in 2009 and carried out searches at 20 locations in Delhi-NCR Friday. The CBI Thursday arrested renowned Bengali film producer Shrikant Mohta in connection with the Rose Valley chit fund scam, sources said. Mohta, considered close to the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) in West Bengal, allegedly duped Rose Valley of Rs 25 crore. The CBI is without a full-time director as the meeting of Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led selection committee to decide on the next CBI chief remained inconclusive Thursday.