CBI arrests Trinamool Congress RS member Srinjoy Bose in Saradha scam case

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) quizzed West Bengal's ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) Rajya Sabha member Srinjoy Bose in connection with the multi-crore Saradha Group chit fund scam for five hours before arresting him in Kolkata on Friday.

Besides, state textiles minister Shyamapada Mukherjee was quizzed in another related case. Bose is among eight prominent persons arrested by the agency in the case so far.

The Enforcement Directorate, meanwhile, froze Bose's five bank accounts. Editor of popular Bengali daily Pratidin, Bose was earlier summoned by the CBI for interrogation at the Salt Lake CGO complex regarding his business dealings with Saradha Group chairman Sudipta Sen.

Sources said that MP was arrested for his mismatching statements in the case. Bose will be produced in the Alipur court around 11 am on Saturday, sources added. Bose was accused of blackmailing Sen into buying loss-hit Bengal Media Private Limited, which is a subsidiary of Xenitis Group, headed by Santanu Ghosh.

The CBI also quizzed Mukherjee in connection with the sale of shares of a cement plant to the Sen, and former TMC MP Somen Mitra during the day.

Chief minister Mamata Banerjee blamed the Centre and the previous Left Front government for the scam and wondered what CBI, Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) and Bharatiya Janata Party were doing then.

At a party meeting in Nadia district, she said, "Our government arrested the owner of the Saradha Group, which was set up during the Left Front rule."

Opposition leader Surya Kanta Mishra said, "All the arrestees are actually beneficiaries of the Saradha chit fund scam." BJP national secretary Siddharth Nath Singh said that Banerjee should start writing her resignation letter as she has to answer the lakhs of poor investors who became victims of the scam.

In association with Mail Today Bureau