ED questions TMC leaders in connection with chit-fund scam ahead of Bengal polls

The central agency has also summoned another former TMC MP and two former IPS officers in connection with the same case on March 24 and March 25

At least two Trinamool Congress (TMC) leaders, who have been fielded as candidates for the upcoming assembly election, were questioned by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with the multi-crore Sarada chit-fund scam on Friday.

Representational image.

While Madan Mitra, the state’s former transport minister, will be contesting from the Kamarhati assembly constituency in North 24 Parganas, Vivek Gupta, a former TMC MP has been fielded from the Jorasanko assembly constituency in Kolkata.

The central agency has also summoned another former TMC MP and two former IPS officers in connection with the same case on March 24 and March 25. One of them was given a plush post by chief minister Mamata Banerjee after his retirement. Earlier this week, TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh was summoned by the central agency.

Both Mitra and Ghosh were arrested earlier and later released on bail.

“I received a letter from the ED and that’s why I came. Earlier too I have cooperated with them. I will cooperate whenever they call me,” Mitra told reporters outside the ED office.

Meanwhile, the ED also attached an asset of TMC youth leader Vinay Mishra and his arrested brother Vikas Mishra in a money-laundering case linked to alleged cattle smuggling across the India-Bangladesh border in West Bengal.

While the TMC has alleged that the central agency has suddenly become hyperactive before the assembly election on the BJP’s directions , the latter has rubbished the allegations.

“What were the central agencies doing all these days? Why have they suddenly become so active just before the polls? Soon after the elections are over this hyperactivity will die down again. This is a vindictive attitude and is very unfortunate. They are acting on the directions of the BJP,” said Tapas Roy, TMC spokesperson.

“This has nothing to do with politics. We have said earlier too that the central agencies are not controlled by the BJP. We don’t need to do such things. This is false propaganda, and the people of Bengal are fed up with such versions,” said Samik Bhattacharya, BJPs state spokesperson.

The Saradha group allegedly cheated around 1.7 -1.8 million depositors , mostly poor and lower middle class people, promising them abnormally high returns on investments in its illegal schemes. The scam began to unravel in the first quarter of 2013 and finally blew up in April 2013 when the chairman of the group that ran the ponzi scheme, Sudipta Sen, and the company’s executive director Debjani Mukherjee, were arrested.

The Saradha scam generated great controversy since several leaders of ruling Trinamool Congress were allegedly involved with the scam.

The West Bengal assembly elections are scheduled to begin from March 27. The BJP has set a target to win more than 200 seats out of the 294 assembly seats. The TMC has said that the BJP won’t even get 100 seats.