In a major jolt to West Bengal's ruling Trinamool Congress, the CBI Friday arrested the party's Rajya Sabha member Srinjoy Bose in connection with the multi-crore-rupee Saradha scam.
Bose, who was accused of 'blackmail' by scam kingpin and Saradha Group promoter Sudipta Sen, was grilled by Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) sleuths for nearly six hours before eventually being arrested.
"Bose has been arrested for his prima facie involvement in the Saradha scam on allegations of criminal conspiracy, misappropriation of funds and deriving undue financial benefits. He will be presented before a court Saturday," a CBI officer told IANS.
Bose - editor of Bengali daily Sambad Pratidin and assistant general secretary of city soccer giants Mohun Bagan - is the second Trinamool leader to be arrested by the CBI in the scam.
The agency had earlier arrested party leader and former director general of the state armed police Rajat Majumdar.
Another Trinamool Rajya Sabha member Kunal Ghosh, who headed Saradha's media arm, is also behind bars but was arrested by West Bengal Police before the Supreme Court directed the CBI to take up the probe.
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Besides the CBI, Bose has earlier been grilled by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) which too are probing the scam.
Bose's arrest came on a day when CBI sleuths grilled Textile Minister Shyamapada Mukherjee and Congress leader Somen Mitra.
Transport Minister Madan Mitra was also summoned by the CBI but he skipped the questioning, citing ill health and is undergoing treatment at the state-run SSKM Hospital.
Bose was named by Sen in a letter he purportedly wrote to the CBI in April last year.
In the letter, Sen claimed he entered the media business after the Bengali daily started attacking him. He also mentioned his entry into the media space as the prime cause for the collapse of his vast business empire.
Sen, now under arrest along with his top aides, said after he purchased a television channel that Bose alongside Kunal Ghosh came to him and he had to make arrangements for paying Rs.60 lakh per month to the newspaper for running the channel.
"... (the paper) has also given me assurance that on execution of this agreement, they will protect my business from the state and central governments and I will be able to get a smooth passage and they assured me that they have very close connection with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee," Sen had said in the letter.
Sen in his letter also alleged that over two years, the paper had taken Rs.20 crore from him for running the channel.
The opposition welcomed Bose's arrest.
"Now we have a second Trinamool MP behind bars. I do not think any other political party in the state can boast of such a record. Slowly but steadily, all the claims made by Mamata Banerjee about the non-involvement of Trinamool in the Saradha scam are turning out to be false," CPI-M parliamentarian Mohammad Salim said.
Taking a jibe at the Trinamool, state BJP president Rahul Sinha said: "The procession has begun and very soon the entire Trinamool party will be behind bars."