Rebel Congress MLA Roshan Baig detained at Bengaluru airport in IMA case, BJP cries foul

The special investigation team detained Congress MLA Roshan Baig in the multi-crore IMA Jewels ponzi scam when he was about to board a chartered plane from the Bengaluru international airport, Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy said on Monday. "Today SIT probing the IMA case detained R Roshan Baig for questioning at the BIAL airport while he was trying to leave along with BS Yeddyurappa’s PA Santosh on a chartered flight to Mumbai,” Kumaraswamy tweeted. The charge has been rubbished by the BJP.

"CM H D Kumaraswamy is using the state machinery to save his govt now. Roshan Baig was given time till 19^th July to appear before SIT. This shows how the state government is blackmailing and treating their own MLAs’ using the institutions,” the BJP tweeted.

“It is false that Yeddyurappa’s PA Santhosh was travelling along with Mr. Baig. CM is peddling fake news and misleading the state. It was only Baig who was travelling and there was no second passenger. We demand to check boarding passes and CCTV footage to put out the facts,” the BJP tweeted.

Earlier, the Congress suspended Baig from the party with immediate effectfor "anti-party" activities. "All India Congress Committee has approved the proposalsent by KPCC to take action against R Roshan Baig, MLA on account of his anti-party activities," the state Congress said in a release.

"He has been suspended from the party with immediate effect, on the basis of inquiry conducted on this matter," it said.Hitting out at Congress leaders for the party's performance in the Lok Sabha polls, Baig, a MLA from Shivajinagar, had recently held Siddaramaiah's "arrogance" and KPCC President Dinesh Gundu Rao's "immaturity" responsible for the "flop show.

"He also called AICC general secretary K C Venugopal a "buffoon."He had also dropped hints of quitting the party, and appealed to Muslims to "compromise" with the situation, on NDA returning to power.The Karnataka PCC had issued a show cause notice to Baig for his conduct, to which he has not responded, according to sources.