West Bengal transport minister Madan Mitra, accused in the Saradha scam, resigned on Wednesday after the Central Bureau of Investigation asked the Calcutta High Court to cancel his bail. The investigating agency argued before the court that he was still a cabinet minister in the state government after being indicted and jailed as part of the multi-crore scam. The CBI counsel argued that Mitra was still an influential figure on the state and that he could tamper with evidence in the case. The High Court bench ordered Mitra be kept under house arrest.

Mitra had been granted bail by an Alipore court on October 31, after which the CBI moved the High Court against this. Mitra had been arrested on December 12, 2014. Thousands of crores of investor money was lost after the Ponzi scheme collapsed in 2013.