Insensitive utterances like 'Whatever lost is lost' (as Mamata Banerjee was heard telling the media) or 'The government did not ask these people to put their money in Saradha' (as stated by one of Banerjee's cabinet ministers) will not go down well with the people of Bengal, warns Indrani Roy.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee could be staring at troubled times ahead as the Saradha scam trail seemingly leads up to her doorstep.
The central probe agency has also issued a notice asking general public 'to furnish information and particulars of properties, both movable and immovable as well as bank accounts, in the state of West Bengal and other places, if any, related to Saradha group known to them, with specific details' to it.
A special task force of the SFIO recently submitted an interim report to the Corporate Affairs Ministry in this regard.
CBI sources said Bose was interrogated for more than three hours.
CBI is also probing a criminal conspiracy angle of the Saradha scam.
Kumar sought seven days time, citing personal reasons, to appear before CBI officers in connection with the case.
Completing its over a-year-long probe into Saradha scam, the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) has submitted its final investigation report to the government, which may soon start prosecution proceedings for numerous serious violations found during investigations.
Central Bureau of Investigation on Wednesday registered a record number of 46 cases in a day in connection with its probe in the Rs 10,000-crore Saradha chit fund scam naming Trinamool Congress' sitting Rajya Sabha MP Kunal Ghosh as one of the accused.
The collapse of a large deposit taker, the Saradha group, has brought protesting collection agents right to the doorstep of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, whose government has given a free hand to such firms.
Imran, a Rajya Sabha MP, reached the agency's office in Salt Lake here and will be questioned about his connections with the defunct group owned by jailed Saradha Chairman Sudipta Sen.
Central Bureau of Investigation is investigating the Saradha ponzi scam.
In the past, the ministry had received complaints of alleged ponzi schemes at 73 companies of about a dozen different groups operating in West Bengal.
ED, which has been probing the alleged financial irregularities and cheating by Saradha group of companies, has also detected that a high interest rate of 18 per cent was assured to investors if they invested in the groups' schemes for a period of 3-5 years, the probe report said.
In a written reply, Minister of State for Personnel Jitendra Singh said three cases in West Bengal and one case in Odisha have been registered by CBI.
The deal in question is the sale of Devkripa Vyapar Pvt Ltd, the holding company of Akhon Samay, a news channel that never went of air.
State transport and sports minister Madan Mitra -- whose name has reportedly propped up in CBI investigation in Saradha -- and textile minister Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, who was earlier quizzed by ED in this case, are now at the receiving end of a public snub of the party leadership.
He also asked why the Chief Minister was concerned about people 'charged with wrongdoings' and said she should instead be bothered about the victims.
The rest, investigators claimed, were floated as "dummies" to act as cover for unleashing the alleged ponzi scheme.
With Lok Sabha elections in progress, arrests of Sen's kin have kicked up a huge political storm both at the regional as well as at the state level.
Former West Bengal DGP Rajat Majumdar was on Tuesday arrested by the CBI for his alleged involvement in the multi-crore Saradha chit fund scam.
Initially reluctant to involve the CBI in the investigation on the ground that the central agency had not been able to make any headway into the Nandigram and Netai killings, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee later changed her stance, saying that the government was not averse to it.
Protests erupted across Assam against the Saradha group for allegedly duping its investors, agents and employees engaged in its various companies in the state.
Trinamool Congress MP and actor Mithun Chakraborty on Tuesday surrendered to Enforcement Directorate an amount of about Rs 1.2 crore that he had received from scam-hit Saradha group of companies for being its brand ambassador.
Market regulator Sebi on Tuesday ordered Kolkata-based Saradha Realty India to close all its collective schemes and refund the money collected from investors within three months, amid continuing protests against the alleged fraudulent activities of the group.
The central agency had prayed for 10 days custody of the accused, but the court granted a week.
He was arrested this morning by CBI sleuths.
As a multi-agency probe continues in Saradha scam, findings of one official investigation suggests that the group floated at least 279 companies to channelise money collected from gullible investors as part of a vast 'ponzi' network.
Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha MP Srinjoy Bose was on Friday arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation after a marathon interrogation for five hours for his alleged involvement in the multi-crore Saradha chit fund scam.
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Probing the high-profile Saradha chit fund scam of West Bengal, the serious fraud investigation office on grilled the suspended Trinamool Congress MP Kunal Ghosh for over eight hours here and further questioning is expected next week.
Kunal Ghosh, who was also the chief executive officer of Saradha Group's media arm, was arrested on November 23 last by Bidhannagar Police.
A SFIO probe into Saradha scam and 'chit fund' operations of 62 other entities has found serious financial mismanagement and siphoning off the funds by their promoters, who took advantage of regulatory gaps.
A city court on Friday remanded suspended Trinamool Congress MP Kunal Ghosh to seven days' judicial custody after he dramatically recused his lawyer from speaking for him and then pleaded for either bail or CBI custody to 'assist' the agency in its Saradha chit fund scam probe.
The Enforcement Directorate on Wednesday night arrested the wife and son of the alleged kingpin of the multi-crore Saradha chit fund scam accused Sudipta Sen in a money laundering case.
The former union minister has been remanded to custody for 5 days.
Erroneously labelling it a chit fund may unwittingly give this questionable company legal wings to fly.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday slammed West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for her "political vendetta" charge over action in Saradha scam, saying she is pressing the "panic button" and "rattled" by the possibility that her "own involvement" could come to light.
Also directed the company not make any financial transaction till further orders.
Saradha scam accused Kunal Ghosh on Monday threatened to commit suicide if the CBI did not take proper action against 'those involved' within three days in front of a magistrate when he was produced before a city court.
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