Assam Cabinet greenlights CBI probe into 32 trading scam cases; handover to complete in a month

Guwahati, Sept 14: The Assam cabinet has decided to hand over 32 cases registered in the unregulated trading investment scam to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

The decision, made during a cabinet meeting on Friday evening, follows Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma’s recent visit to New Delhi, where he met Union Home Minister Amit Shah and discussed the issue that has recently swept the state.

“The cabinet has decided to hand over 32 cases to the central agency, and the Central government is in conjunction with the decision. We have had a discussion with the CBI, and they too have agreed to take over the investigation. The entire process may take close to month,” Chief Minister Sarma told the press after the cabinet meeting.

Earlier, on September 8, the Chief Minister hinted at the possibility of involving the CBI to investigate the cases, saying the decision would depend on the “complexity of the cases” registered under the Banning of Unregulated Deposit Schemes Act, 2019, and relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

The Chief Minister also claimed that he was the first to flag the issue a few weeks ago, which led to the unearthing of what is now known as the unregulated trading investment scam.

Detailing how he first became suspicious of a youth attempting to donate Rs 1 crore to the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund, which ultimately led to the exposure of the scam, Chief Minister Sarma said that if more cases are registered in the future, the CBI will investigate them as well.

To date, the Assam police have arrested over 60 individuals in connection with the fraudulent trading scam and have constituted 14 Special Investigation Teams (SITs) under the supervision of the Assam Crime Investigation Department (CID).

Several Lookout Circulars have also been issued against individuals found to be part of these scams, as well as those already arrested.