West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Friday held Jharkhand and DVC responsible for the current "man made" flood in the southern part of the state and contended that it was caused due to the unplanned and enhanced discharge of water from dams and barrages in the neighbouring state without information.
The arrest and an alleged attack on TMC workers by unknown persons whom the Trinamool Congress believes to be Bharatiya Janata Party supporters happened barely 24 hours before the Mamata Banerjee-led party's national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee is slated to reach Agartala to 'stand beside attacked party workers'.
Hasty, ill-conceived steps show how isolated Mamata Banerjee had been from the national political trend. A fascinating excerpt from Sugato Hazra's Losing The Plot: Political Isolation Of West Bengal.
The disrobed body of a 75-year-old woman inmate of an ashram was found on Wednesday at Katwa, in West Bengal, fuelling allegations of a second rape of a senior citizen in West Bengal in a week.
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.
Shukla in his resignation letter to Banerjee expressed his willingness to "retire" from politics
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.
The division bench said it deemed it appropriate to stay the special court's order and direct that the "accused person shall be treated to be in judicial custody till further orders".
Bengal ministers Firhad Hakim and Subrata Mukherjee were taken to the Central Bureau of Investigation office on Monday in connection with the Narada sting operation, officials said.
The agency has also called former Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha MP Kunal Ghosh to Shillong on February 10.
The chargesheet had been filed under sections 120b, 409 and 420 of IPC (criminal conspiracy, criminal breach of trust and cheating) and also under sections four and six of Prize, Chit and Money Circulation Schemes (Banning) Act 1978.
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.
Breaking her silence over the Saradha scam, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday said she would quit if allegations of her closeness to the ponzi company was proved.
Saradha kingpin Sudipta Sen had alleged in his purported letter to the Central Bureau of Investigation that Kunal Ghosh and TMC Rajya Sabha member Srinjay Bose had blackmailed him, and he was forced to pay hefty amounts to them.
The central agency had prayed for 10 days custody of the accused, but the court granted a week.
Barbs were on Saturday traded between Rahul Gandhi and Mamata Banerjee over the Saradha scam in West Bengal which defrauded lakhs, with the Congress vice-president accusing her government of inaction and the chief minister targeting P Chidamabaram.
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.
Dissident Trinamool Congress MP Somen Mitra on Friday said he has decided to leave the party and go back to the Congress, while stating he would resign from his Lok Sabha membership first.
'If the chief minister says there are areas in her home state where she cannot enter, where has she driven the state to!'
The West Bengal CM's media equation wasn't always this bad. In the run-up to the assembly elections of 2011, she was a clear favourite.
About 17 lakh investors, mostly in West Bengal, who have lost crores of rupees in the Saradha chit fund scam are fast losing hope. The scandal continues to roil West Bengal political circles with several ruling Trinamool Congress leaders being implicated and some arrested. Even West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's name has been dragged into the sordid mess. Indrani Roy presents a FAQ on what the scam is about and the main players behind it.
Rajeev Kumar, the Kolkata police commissioner, is known for his impeccable investigating and electronic surveillance skills.
Former Trinamool Congress MP Kunal Ghosh also appeared before the probe agency in Meghalaya.
With the Supreme Court ordering Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar to appear before the Central Bureau of Investigation, the agency will finally be able to question the top cop in cases arising out of the Saradha chit fund scam probe.
The first to arrive at the Salt Lake office of the central probe agency here was the award wining actor and director Sen whose statement was recorded by ED which is probing her role as the Editor of a magazine brought out by the now defunct group.
As Rose Valley resurfaces, Sudip Bandyopadhyay and Tapas Pal's arrests marks the end of the bonhomie between the TMC and BJP.
Somen Mitra, the one time pillar of the Trinamool Congress and now Congress candidate from Kolkata North constituency, can't help smiling. The SC's order directing the CBI to probe the Saradha scam is the fruit of his hard and lonely battle. On the day when 17 constituencies in the state go to polls, Mitra speaks to Rediff.com's Indrani Roy about the impact of the Saradha scam on the elections and his relationship with his former party chief.
I am not ruling out possibility of joining Cong again, says Trinamool Congress MP Somen Mitra.
Trinamool Congress's slogan of 'Satatar Pratik' (symbol of honesty) has been challenged by BJP's slogan, 'Gali, gali mein shor hai, Mamata Banerjee chor hai'.
Indrani Roy deconstructs the controversy over Trinamool Congress MP Tapas Pal controversial remarks on rape.
Gopalkrishna Gandhi could only manage 244 votes.
While the Trinamool government, led by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, tried its best to attract investors, including from Singapore, not much headway could be made.
The chief minister skipped meals and remained awake the entire night on a makeshift dais along with some senior ministers and party members.
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.
Speculation is rife that beleaguered Mukul Roy, a close aide of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and under the CBI scanner in the Saradha chit fund scam, may switch over to the BJP. Neither Roy or the BJP have commented on the rumours. But Roy's recent remarks seems to expose him. Sheela Bhatt and Indrani Roy report.
Pulling no punches in her attack against the Bharatiya Janata Party for allegedly pursuing 'political vendetta' against the Trinamool Congress, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday charged that the Central Bureau of Investigation was being used as a 'political tool' by the National Democratic Alliance government and was functioning as 'a department of the Prime Minister's Office'.
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.
'I have tutored my family and myself to fight hunger,' the former agent for the disgraced Saradha chit fund says, his eyes welling up. 96 of the 107 cases referred to the Serious Fraud Investigation Office are based in Bengal!
It was a multi-million rupee scam whose extent and reach are still being unravelled, so why did the chief of the scam-tainted Saradha group Sudipta Sen plead that he was unable to pay Rs 30,000 as bail fee? Where could all the money have gone? Indrani Roy finds out.