BENGALURU: Congress leader R Roshan Baig’s troubles may just be getting bigger. The Special Investigation Team (SIT), formed to probe the multi-crore IMA scam, will soon be calling him for questioning on his probable links with the managing director of I Monetary Advisory (IMA), Mohammed Mansoor Khan.
“His (Baig’s) name has been revealed in an audio clip which is said to be the voice of Mansoor. Other sources too brought up his name. The arrested directors of IMA Jewels have also explained how Baig and Mansoor were closely associated. Though the authenticity of the audio clip is yet to be established, we may question him based on the allegations,” a senior officer of the SIT said. The investigating team is believed to be looking for some documents which could prove Baig’s financial transactions with Mansoor Khan.
Police probing MLA’s land deals
“We are looking for some documents based on the revelations made by a few people who have been interrogated. Once we find them, we might question the former minister,” another officer confirmed.
According to reliable sources, Baig recently introduced the firm’s owner to Revenue minister R V Deshpande seeking a favour. The SIT is also looking into this issue after Deshpande confirmed on Monday that Baig had indeed introduced Mansoor to him and had asked for some ‘undue favour’, which he reportedly refused.
On Tuesday, Congress suspended Roshan Baig for anti-party activities. Some Congress leaders also wrote to the KPCC chief urging him to sack Baig from the party over his name figuring in the IMA case.The police are also probing MLA Zameer Ahmed Khan’s land deals, along with allegations of financial transactions between several bureaucrats, police officers and politicians.
“This is getting murkier and murkier. Every day, a new name is cropping up. From politicians to top cops, several names are being revealed. All this is under investigation,” said a senior police officer.However, Baig had refuted all allegations earlier and has continued to call it a political conspiracy. He even demanded that the case be handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). He had tweeted last week saying his name was being dragged into the controversy as vindictive politics after his fallout with a few Congress leaders.
“After my recent political fallout, some of my adversaries have made a full-fledged attempt at assassinating my character by orchestrating a series of events using underhand methods. The entire hit job has been carried out using a baseless, uninvestigated audio recording (Mansoor Khan’s),” Baig tweeted.
He also asserted that once a red corner notice is issued, Interpol will flag Mansoor Khan down and the truth would come out. “There are 13 such companies in Karnataka that are accused of fraud and all need to be investigated,” Baig said.