SIT swoops down on Congress leader Roshan Baig at Bengaluru airport

The SIT had earlier on Monday granted him time till  July 19 to appear before it for questioning. DCP S Girish, part of the SIT, confirmed the detention.
Congress MLA in Karnataka Roshan Baig (Photo | Twitter)
Congress MLA in Karnataka Roshan Baig (Photo | Twitter)

BENGALURU: Just a few hours after the announcement made by Mohammed Mansoor Khan, the founder of I Monetary Advisory, about returning to Bengaluru, the Special Investigation Team detained suspended Congress leader Roshan Baig around 9 pm at the Kempegowda International Airport.

The SIT had earlier on Monday granted him time till  July 19 to appear before it for questioning. DCP S Girish, part of the SIT, confirmed the detention.

Another investigating officer said, “Roshan Baig, MLA from Shivajinagar has been detained for questioning from the Kempegowda International Airport when he was about to take off in a private chartered aircraft. It will be verified if his sudden plan to leave Bengaluru has anything to do with the recent release of the video by Mansoor Khan.”

Meanwhile, the detention also took on a political hue when Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy took to Twitter, accusing the BJP of having a role in Baig’s planned trip.

Sharing a flight manifest which listed Baig as travelling with one more passenger named Santosh, Kumaraswamy alleged that the second person was none other than B S Yeddyurappa’s personal assistant.

“I was told that on seeing the SIT, Santosh ran away while the team apprehended Mr. Baig,” Kumaraswamy said in his tweet.

Kumaraswamy, who faces an all-important trust vote on Thursday, went on to allege that BJP MLA Yogeshwar C P was also present when Baig was detained.

He charged the BJP with ‘horse trading’ and said that it was evident that they were involved in the political crisis that his government finds itself in.

In its response to Kumaraswamy’s allegations, the BJP, on its official Twitter handle, posted, “CM @hd_kumaraswamy is using the state machinery to save his govt now.”

Santhosh was not travelling with Baig: BJP

BJP’s Twitter handle said, “Mr. Roshan Baig was given time till 19th July to appear before SIT. This shows how the state Govt is blackmailing and treating their own MLAs using the institutions. It is false that BSY’s PA Santhosh was travelling along with Mr. Baig.  CM is peddling fake news & misleading the state. It was only Mr. Baig who was travelling & there was no 2nd passenger. We demand to check boarding passes & CCTV footage to put out the facts.”

“It could also be a pressure tactic by the coalition to ensure he doesn’t leave the city. The SIT had information about his planned departure and were waiting for him to arrive,” sources said.

Earlier on Monday, Baig skipped a summons by the SIT for questioning for the second time, sending a letter with his assistant asking for time till the July 25 to appear before the team as he was busy with political duties and arranging logistics for Haj pilgrims.

However, the SIT chose to give him time only till July 19 in a notice sent on Monday afternoon.

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