Calcutta, June 25: Lawyers representing transport minister Madan Mitra today referred to a Saradha programme that Mamata Banerjee had allegedly attended while arguing that he should not be made a "scapegoat" in the deposit scam when several others seemed equally involved.

While no specific allegation was levelled against any top Trinamul leader, the fact that an oblique reference to the chief minister was made prompted a section of lawyers and party functionaries to wonder about the reasons behind the sudden change in stance by Mitra's lawyers.

Representing Mitra at the city sessions court, advocate Milon Mukherjee today said one of the witnesses, Ashraf Ali from Malda, had said that while opting to deposit money in Saradha, he had been influenced by three things, including the alleged presence of Mamata at the inauguration of Kalam, a Bengali newspaper owned by Saradha, in April 2012.

"Of the 25 lakh Saradha depositors, the CBI has found only four witnesses. When Ali lodged a complaint against Saradha for non-payment of dues, Trinamul was not in power. So how could Mitra have influenced him?" Mukherjee asked.

Ali, in his submission to the CBI, had apparently said he was "influenced" to put his money in Saradha also because Mitra was the president of the workers' union of the company. Ali had added that he had seen a photograph of Mitra at a Saradha office in Calcutta.

Mukherjee said Mitra should not be made a scapegoat, adding that the minister had spent 195 days in custody and the CBI had already submitted the chargesheet in the case.

The CBI argued in court that the Saradha scam involved several states and Mitra's release would influence the fate of the trial.

Since the city sessions court rejected the transport minister's bail plea in May, Mitra had been "frustrated", sources close to him said. He has been undergoing treatment at SSKM Hospital in CBI custody for the past few months.

SSKM sources said Mitra was suffering from "acute depression". The sources close to him said he had wondered in private whether some of his party colleagues were trying to maintain distance from him.

While Mitra has never uttered anything against Mamata, his aides have often resented the fact that the chief minister had "not extended support" to him.

The court today denied Mitra bail again.

"The sense that we are fighting a lost battle is very depressing. After today's bail denial, we will have to regroup and decide on the next step," said one of Mitra's aides, refusing to be named.

He, however, didn't want to comment on whether Mitra's lawyers had changed strategy by referring to Saradha programmes where other senior Trinamul leaders had allegedly been present.