BSP MLA says CBI raid is ‘politically motivated’

Lucknow, Oct 20 : Bahujan Samaj Party MLA Vinay Shankar Tiwari, who faced a CBI raid, issued a statement on Tuesday, claiming that the action was ‘politically motivated and he was paying the price for being a Brahmin’.
The CBI conducted raids on the premises of firms owned by Tiwari on Monday.
In a Facebook post, Tiwari wrote that he was paying the price of being a Brahmin. “Earlier too, the government had raided our house ‘Tiwari Hata’ in Gorakhpur,” he said.
He admitted that he owed ‘around Rs 600 crore’ to the bank, but the government also owed him Rs 700-800 crores. “The government is using the CBI to victimise me and the Central agencies are being used to muzzle the voices of opposition,” he stated.
Tiwari is a BSP MLA and a son of erstwhile politician Hari Shankar Tiwari, who wields a considerable influence in eastern Uttar Pradesh. He represents the Chillupar Assembly seat.
The CBI has booked Tiwari and his wife Rita Tiwari in connection with an alleged bank fraud to the tune of Rs 754.25 crore involving a company, after carrying out searches at several locations in Lucknow and Noida, officials said.