CBI arrests former Assam CM Hiteswar Saikia's son in Rs 9 lakh bank loan default case

Guwahati: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Sunday arrested Ashok Saikia, the eldest son of former Assam Chief Minister Hiteswar Saikia, in a bank loan default case.

The CBI team arrested Saikia, the brother of Congress Legislature Party leader Debabrata Saikia, from his residence in Guwahati`s Sarumataria in a case related to Rs 9.37 lakh loan taken from the Assam State Cooperative Agriculture and Rural Development Bank (ASCARDB) in 1996.

The case was initially registered at Paltan Bazar police station in Guwahati in 1998 and later transferred to the CBI in 2001 after two complaints were filed with the probe agency.

Debabrata Saikia, also Leader of Opposition in the Assembly, told the media that his brother was being victimised for a loan he had already repaid long ago to the bank and he would certainly get justice from the court.

The opposition Congress released a letter of the ASCARDB on Sunday where it was shown that Saikia had availed the loan of Rs 9,37,701 from the bank in 1996 for business but in 2015, he had cleared the dues and H.N. Borah, the then General Manager of the bank, had in a letter on October 10, 2015, said the loan had been liquidated under the compromise settlement scheme.