 "In poll season, Saradha chit fund scam is back to haunt Mamata")
For Saradha chit fund scam accused Sudipta Sen and his family, who used to lead a flamboyant lifestyle, things have taken a turn for the worse. While Sen has been languishing in jail, his wife on Friday could not mobilise Rs 10,000 for her bail.
Ever since the chit fund company went bust, the investors have been awaiting justice. The scam had claimed many lives. Even on Friday, a depositor killed himself in Purulia. Swapan Kumar Biswas, who had deposited his personal savings of about Rs 4 lakh in the company, was found hanging from the ceiling of his house.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has stepped up its investigation into the scam, though it may not go down well with the Trinamool Congress (TMC), which might question the timing of the move. The state government-appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT)’s probe has not been very effective.
SIT even failed to arrest Sen’s wife and son, who were recently nabbed by ED from Kolkata.
The Shyamal Sen Commission had summoned Sen during its probe. The panel received 1.7 million applications during the probe. Though most of these people had invested in Saradha, investors of the group’s other companies such as Amazon, Suraha Microfinance, Sunmarg, ICore, Rose Valley and Alchemist too have registered their complaints with the panel and came up for hearing. The commission has so far refunded Rs 167 crore to four lakh investors whose investment did not exceed Rs 10,000. Another 237,000 depositors, each of whose claims are between Rs 10,001 and Rs 20,000, and aggregating Rs 130 core, will be compensated “soon”.
Meanwhile, more and more TMC leaders are being summoned by ED. TMC candidate from Balurghat constituency and theatre personality Arpita Ghosh, who was associated with Saradha's media group, has been quizzed by ED. State Transport Minister Madan Mitra is believed to be under scanner.
Clearly, it couldn’t have come at a worst time for Mamata Banerjee. Moreover, the Supreme Court, which is likely to decide on a CBI inquiry into the scam, had earlier hearing pulled up the state government for not looking into the “larger conspiracy” angle in its probe.
With all these happening in quick succession, the scam has become the central issue of the election. While the Left has been raising the issue for some time now, BJP and Congress leaders have also made it the main election issue.
BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi raked up the scam during his election campaign in North Bengal recently. Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi too launched a scathing attack on the state government last week, accusing it of shielding scamsters.
The chief minister is defending her government, citing its decision to provide compensation package to victims. But people like Swapan Kumar Biswas deserve justice rather than mere compensation.
PONZI DIARY
How the Saradha chit fund scam unfolded Apr 22: West Bengal govt sets up SIT to probe into the collapse of Saradha Group
Apr 23: Sudipta Sen arrested from Kashmir, along with executive assistant Debjani Mukherjee
Apr 26: An inquiry commission headed by former Allahabad High Court Chief Justice Shyamal Kumar Sen set up to recommend on compensation for the victims
Jul 18: SC issues notice to Centre and West Bengal in connection with a PIL seeking a CBI probe into the scam
Nov 22: TMC MP Kunal Ghosh drags party supremo Mamata Banerjee, Mukul Roy into the controversy
Nov 23: TMC MP Kunal Ghosh, the CEO of Saradha Group's media arm arrested
Mar 26, 2014: SC pulls up state govt, says the state had not disclosed the “larger conspiracy” in its investigation.
Apr 17: ED arrests Sudipta Sen's “absconding” wife, son from Kolkata
Ever since the chit fund company went bust, the investors have been awaiting justice. The scam had claimed many lives. Even on Friday, a depositor killed himself in Purulia. Swapan Kumar Biswas, who had deposited his personal savings of about Rs 4 lakh in the company, was found hanging from the ceiling of his house.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has stepped up its investigation into the scam, though it may not go down well with the Trinamool Congress (TMC), which might question the timing of the move. The state government-appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT)’s probe has not been very effective.
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Apart from former TMC MP and Saradha's media group CEO Kunal Ghosh, whom Mamata Banerjee was quick to disown after the scam surfaced, no party leaders have been quizzed by SIT, despite several TMC leaders' names having surfaced in the past one year. Be it Sen's purported letter to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) last year or Kunal Ghosh's public comments before being arrested, names of many TMC leaders like Mukul Roy, Madan Mitra or Srinjoy Bose have come up.
SIT even failed to arrest Sen’s wife and son, who were recently nabbed by ED from Kolkata.
The Shyamal Sen Commission had summoned Sen during its probe. The panel received 1.7 million applications during the probe. Though most of these people had invested in Saradha, investors of the group’s other companies such as Amazon, Suraha Microfinance, Sunmarg, ICore, Rose Valley and Alchemist too have registered their complaints with the panel and came up for hearing. The commission has so far refunded Rs 167 crore to four lakh investors whose investment did not exceed Rs 10,000. Another 237,000 depositors, each of whose claims are between Rs 10,001 and Rs 20,000, and aggregating Rs 130 core, will be compensated “soon”.
Meanwhile, more and more TMC leaders are being summoned by ED. TMC candidate from Balurghat constituency and theatre personality Arpita Ghosh, who was associated with Saradha's media group, has been quizzed by ED. State Transport Minister Madan Mitra is believed to be under scanner.
Clearly, it couldn’t have come at a worst time for Mamata Banerjee. Moreover, the Supreme Court, which is likely to decide on a CBI inquiry into the scam, had earlier hearing pulled up the state government for not looking into the “larger conspiracy” angle in its probe.
With all these happening in quick succession, the scam has become the central issue of the election. While the Left has been raising the issue for some time now, BJP and Congress leaders have also made it the main election issue.
BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi raked up the scam during his election campaign in North Bengal recently. Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi too launched a scathing attack on the state government last week, accusing it of shielding scamsters.
The chief minister is defending her government, citing its decision to provide compensation package to victims. But people like Swapan Kumar Biswas deserve justice rather than mere compensation.
PONZI DIARY
How the Saradha chit fund scam unfolded
- 1st week of April, 2013: Saradha goes bust, promoter Sudipta Sen (pictured) absconds
- Apr 17: Hundreds of Saradha agents assemble at TMC headquarters in Kolkata and demand government intervention.