Guwahati, Sept. 2: The Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS) today said it would move the CBI with a plea to bring Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi under the ambit of its investigation into the multi-crore Saradha scam.

KMSS president Akhil Gogoi said the chief minister should also be probed, as he was in charge of both finance and home departments.

“How could an illegal chit fund company collect money from people without the knowledge of and help from the finance and home departments? The finance department took no step to stop Saradha’s activities in Assam while the police and other agencies under the home department gave protection to the firm and their officials. So we will submit a memorandum to the CBI soon to bring Gogoi under the ambit of its probe,” Akhil said.

His demand comes a day after former minister Himanta Biswa Sarma blamed the home and finance departments for any illegal operations by deposit-collecting companies in the state. Opposition AGP and BJP also demanded that Gogoi should be included in the CBI inquiry as the scam had taken place during the tenure of his government.

The CBI had searched the houses of Sarma, senior Congress MLA Anjan Dutta, former director-general of police Shankar Barua, singer Sadananda Gogoi and All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) president Sankar Prasad Ray in connection with the cases it registered to probe the multi-crore scam that had taken place in Bengal, Assam and Odisha. The CBI also questioned the singer and Guwahati-based businessman Rajesh Bajaj in Calcutta.

Hitting back at the AGP and the BJP, government spokesperson Rakibul Hussain echoing the chief minister, said instead of going to the media, the opposition parties should hand over proof, if any, about Gogoi’s involvement in the scam to the CBI.

He, however, refused to comment on Sarma’s indirect attack on Gogoi.

Gogoi had recently dared the AGP, BJP and the KMSS to prove his alleged involvement in the scam. He had said he would lodge a police complaint and send a legal notice to Akhil to prove his allegation or seek an apology.

Akhil today said the KMSS would soon launch a massive protest, seeking strong action against all deposit-collecting companies operating in the state in violation of norms.

“It is rather surprising why the Assam government did not take any step to stop the deposit-collecting companies from operating in the state. The chief minister, who holds the home and finance portfolios, is answerable on this,” Union minister of state for sports and youth affairs and skill development Sarbananda Sonowal told reporters here this morning.