Former West Bengal minister Indranil Sen, close aide of former chief minister Mamata Banerjee, was arrested by Kolkata Police on Wednesday in connection with alleged irregularities in the sale of tickets for previews of select Durga Puja pandals, officials said.
Minutes after the arrest, West Bengal chief minister Suvendu Adhikari likened the development to having tea and biscuits before breakfast, suggesting that more arrests could follow. He also alleged that Banerjee may have benefited from the proceeds of the alleged fraud and said the investigation would eventually reach a wider circle of people.
“Sen used to travel with former chief minister Mamata Banerjee in her car. Even ministers did not have that opportunity. She must have got some share (of the proceeds of crime). From the outside, we always knew that Banerjee and Sen complemented each other. Hence, it would be totally wrong to say that Sen consumed everything all by himself,” Adhikari said.
Police registered an FIR against Sen, his wife and senior officials of private company MassArt in June 2026, following a complaint by Jaydeep Mukherjee, a travel consultant and Durga Puja promoter. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) subsequently launched a parallel investigation into alleged money laundering linked to the case.
{{/usCountry}}Police registered an FIR against Sen, his wife and senior officials of private company MassArt in June 2026, following a complaint by Jaydeep Mukherjee, a travel consultant and Durga Puja promoter. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) subsequently launched a parallel investigation into alleged money laundering linked to the case.
{{/usCountry}}Sen is accused of collecting crores of rupees between 2022 and 2025 through the sale of high-priced passes for previews of select Durga Puja pandals by allegedly making false claims of a partnership with UNESCO.
“Sen had gone to the ED's office in Kolkata to face questioning on Wednesday. He was arrested after he stepped out of the ED office. He will be produced before the court on Thursday,” a senior police officer said.
The officer added that Sen had been booked under various provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) relating to criminal breach of trust, cheating, forgery and criminal conspiracy, among other offences.
The Calcutta high court recently rejected Sen's anticipatory bail plea. Sen is also a popular Bengali singer.
"Those who are keeping their spine upright and putting up a fight are being arrested. Those who have sold themselves and are holing the BJP's flag, all their sins are being pardoned," Abhishek Banerjee, AITC MP and Mamata Banerjee's nephew told the media.
Adhikari alleges links between Sen and Banerjee
Speaking to reporters at the state secretariat, Adhikari alleged that Sen had received crores of rupees from the state's information and cultural affairs department in the name of an event management company associated with his wife. He also alleged that Sen had built a farmhouse in Singur, Hooghly district.
“They used to travel together and sing duets,” Adhikari said, referring to Banerjee and Sen. The ED had claimed in a press statement on October 1 that Sen transferred ₹30 lakh to Banerjee through banking channels as royalty. The All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) subsequently said that Banerjee had written lyrics and composed music for Sen's songs and received royalty for her work.
Adhikari also sang two lines from a Bengali song that he described as the last duet between Banerjee and Sen, including the words, “It is time for my farewell.”
Reiterating his warning that the arrest was only the beginning, Adhikari said he had told the state assembly earlier in the day that the development was merely “biscuit with tea”.
“The breakfast is yet to be completed. You will get to see more. It is the joint venture of ‘aunty’ and ‘baby’. All organisational thieves will have to go to jail. Allow us some time. At the right time, we will reach the bigger circle,” he said.
Adhikari targets Left, TMC; Dola Sen backs Banerjee
The chief minister also targeted the CPI(M), claiming that Sen had once been a favoured figure of the Left Front government before developing close ties with Banerjee.
“He was the CPI(M)'s blue-eyed boy. He was also associated with an NGO run by a former chief minister of the Left Front regime. He later developed close ties with Banerjee. These people go with the flow. After the change in government, he had started praising the BJP government. The BJP is different and had closed its doors,” Adhikari said.
Meanwhile, AITC Rajya Sabha MP Dola Sen, a close associate of Banerjee, expressed confidence in the constitutional and judicial process.
“We have faith in the Constitution, the judiciary and the people. The truth will triumph,” she told reporters.