"I will not be intimidated": Derek O'Brien on CBI summon

New Delhi, July 27: TMC MP Derek O' Brien on Saturday issued a statement in which he has yet again said how his summoning by the CBI in the Saradha case is linked to his party's stand on issues in the Parliament. He further said he had informed the CBI that he would appear before the agency after the Parliament session ends on August 7 and asserted that he would not be intimidated.

"I was served a notice by CBI at 2 pm on July 25. Discussions on Trinamool's Motion in Rajya Sabha, opposing Government amendments to RTI Act, started in Parliament at 2pm July 25. In Feb, when Parliament was in session, a notice was sent. I immediately wrote to CBI that since Parliament was in session,I'd appear on a date after session concludes.However, a day before I was supposed to meet CBI, I was informed I'm not required to meet them," his statement said.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday asked Trinamol Congress (TMC) Rajya Sabha MP, Derek O'Brien, to join ongoing investigation in Saradha chit fund case. The Rajya Sabha MP, who is also a spokesperson of West Bengal's ruling party, was asked to appear before a CBI team in the first week of August

"Since February, I have not received any intimation from them. Now, during this Parliament session, I was served a notice asking me to appear before them on August 1. I have sent them a letter stating that I would meet them after this session is over on August 7," O'Brien said. "Let me also add that I will not be intimidated. In February, I had agreed to appear before the CBI after the session was over, but the CBI chose not to meet me. This time too I am ready to meet them," he said.

O'Brien, in a tweet on Friday, had alleged that the CBI notice was sent as his party had opposed amendments to the Right to Information Act in Parliament. The July 25 notice coincided with the TMC's motion against the RTI (Amendment) Bill in the Rajya Sabha, he claimed. The Supreme Court had ordered a probe into the multi-crore-rupee Saradha scam and transferred the case to CBI in 2014.

Thousands of investors were left in the lurch by the scam and it led to the arrest of many leaders and ministers of the TMC. All of them are now out on bail. Saradha group founder Sudipta Sen and his associate Debjani Mukherjee, arrested in 2013 from Kashmir, are in custody.

Here's Derek O' Brien full statement: