AGARTALA, Oct 16 (TIWN / IANS): Tripura's opposition Congress on Sunday accused the Union and Tripura governments of inaction even as unauthorised Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) and chit fund companies siphoned off crores of rupees from gullible depositors."According to information provided by the state government, Rs 1,172 crore was taken away by illegal NBFCs and chit fund organisations. However, the actual amount must be several times more," Tripura Congress chief Birajit Sinha told reporters here.He said that the hard-earned money of over 14 lakh depositors in Tripura was looted by these companies but the state's Left Front government did little to tackle the problem."Even the central government led by the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) is reluctant to ask the Central Bureau of Investigation to probe the fraudulent acts." Sinha, a former minister, said the newly-constituted Tripura Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) will meet soon to chalk out an agitational programme against the "misrule of the Left government".

"Corruption, financial irregularities, unemployment and miss-governance are rampant in Left-ruled Tripura and these are increasing with each passing day," he claimed.

Newly-appointed state Congress Vice-President Tapas Dey said: "The Tripura High Court earlier asked the CBI to inquire into the activities of illegal NBFCs and chit fund groups, but the central agency, at the instance of the Centre, refused to do so." 

Denying the Congress charge, Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) State Secretary Bijan Dhar said the state government had taken steps to protect the interests of depositors and investors.

Dhar said the Tripura government is the first among those in the states to have enacted law to deal with illegal chit fund and NBFC companies and had asked the CBI to probe illegal collection of money from thousands of people.