ED quizzes two TMC leaders over Saradha case, ex-MP summoned
While Madan Mitra, the state’s former transport minister, will be contesting from the Kamarhati constituency in North 24 Parganas, Vivek Gupta, a former TMC MP has been fielded from the Jorasanko constituency in Kolkata.
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.
While Madan Mitra, the state’s former transport minister, will be contesting from the Kamarhati constituency in North 24 Parganas, Vivek Gupta, a former TMC MP has been fielded from the Jorasanko constituency in Kolkata.
The central agency has also summoned another former TMC MP, Ahmed Hassan Imran, and two former IPS officers, Rajat Majumdar and Surajit Kar Purkayastha, in connection with the same case on March 24 and 25. 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 ED and that’s why I came. Earlier too I have cooperated with them. I will cooperate whenever they call me,” said Mitra. The investigations are continuing against the backdrop of an intensely competitive state election where the ruling TMC is up against the Bharatiya Janata Party.
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 , 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.
Among the prominent TMC leaders named initially was Mukul Roy, then a TMC MP and a close aide of Mamata Banerjee. He was being investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation. In 2017, he joined the BJP. ED was not available for comment.
Meanwhile, ED also attached assets of TMC youth leader Vinay Mishra and his brother Vikas Mishra, who was previously arrested 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 ED 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 BJP... This is false propaganda...,” said Samik Bhattacharya, BJP spokesperson.
