Angry Trinamool Congress workers Sunday burnt effigies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and blocked roads and railway tracks in many areas of West Bengal, continuing their protest over the arrest of state minister Madan Mitra in the Saradha chit fund scam.Trinamool workers demonstrated in all the districts, squatting on railway tracks and taking out rallies decrying the prime minister, the ruling BJP at the Centre and the CBI, which is probing the Saradha scandal.Holding aloft party flags, the agitators raised slogans like "Stop this political conspiracy", and "Madan Mitra, we are with you".
Mitra, arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation for his alleged role in the scandal, has been sent to the CBI's custody till Dec 16.Meanwhile, a high-level meeting was held at the residence of party supremo and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to take stock of the situation following Mitra's arrest.The party MPs would stage demonstrations both inside and outside parliament Monday demanding Modi's arrest by displaying his photo with Sahara group chief Subrata Roy, who is now behind bars.
The party has asked sports personalities to take out a procession from the statue of football legend Goshtho Pal in the sports hub Maidan area Monday.Mitra's loyalists would stage sit-ins in city hub Dharamtala daily from Monday.Hitting the streets Saturday on the issue, Banerjee called the CBI "His Master's Voice" of the BJP and wondered if Modi should be arrested for the Sahara scandal as he was photographed with the Sahara chief.Mitra is the fourth Trinamool leader to be arrested in connection with the multi-crore-rupee Saradha scam which has ruined nearly 1.7 million poor people in the state who lost their savings by parking their funds in ponzi schemes of the Saradha group lured by the promise of high returns.