Former Congress Minister Roshan Baig, who was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation in connection with the IMA Ponzi scam case, was admitted to a hospital on Thursday. Roshan Baig, who was being treated at the hospital in Parappana Agrahara Central Prison on Tuesday, was shifted to the Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences on Thursday.
Sources said that Roshan Baig underwent an angioplasty on Thursday. CBI sources said that if the hospital suggests keeping Baig in hospital for further observation, CBI will have to seek the court for his custody once again. Roshan Baig suffers from diabetes and hypertension. Roshan Baig was shifted to Jayadeva as the doctors at Parappana Agrahara sought a second opinion on Roshan Baig’s health ahead of handing him over to the CBI for questioning.
As per the protocol for COVID-19, Roshan Baig was kept in the isolation ward at Parappana Agrahara. However, he developed breathing difficulty on Wednesday and was put on oxygen support, according to prison officials.
Roshan Baig was to be questioned by the CBI in connection with the I-Monetary Advisory Ponzi scam, which looted crores of rupees from investors by promising halal investment methods. Close to 40,000 depositors have lost their money and the owner of IMA, Mohammed Mansoor Khan had said in a video that he had given Roshan Baig an amount of Rs 400 crore.
This is not the first time Roshan Baig’s name has cropped up in connection with a scam. In 2003, Roshan Baig and his brother Rehan Baig’s names cropped up in connection with the fake stamp paper scam after the case mastermind Abdul Kareem Telgi was arrested in Bengaluru. At the time, Telgi had allegedly confessed to the Special Investigation Team that he had enlisted the help of Roshan Baig’s brother Rehan Baig. However, Rehan Baig was acquitted of all charges in the case.
CBI sources said that in the fake stamp paper case, the investigators only had the confession of the accused due to which there was no case against Rehan Baig. However, the agency is probing his finances, especially the money Roshan Baig allegedly hid under shell companies, to form connections between him and Mohammed Mansoor Khan.