With the chit fund scam delivering a body blow to the Trinamul Congress of West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, the knives are out against two party MPs who were allegedly linked to the accused, Saradha Group promoter Sudipta Sen.
The two Trinamul Rajya Sabha MPs under the scanner are Mr Kunal Ghosh and Mr Srinjoy Bose. With panchayat polls knocking at the door and the chit fund wiping out the savings of lakhs of investors in West Bengal, a major chunk of Trinamul leaders want Ms Banerjee to take “exemplary action” against these two MPs and purge the party of “rotten apples”.
Mr Sudipta Sen, who was on the run, was arrested from a hotel in Sonamarg, Kashmir, on Tuesday. In an 18-page letter to the CBI on April 6, Mr Sen had alleged that these two Trinamul MPs had virtually “blackmailed” him and took money for “protecting” his business interests. A copy of the letter, which is in the possession of this newspaper, also accuses an Assam politician, his former wife and a host of journalists from West Bengal of “extortion”. He wrote to the CBI: “All the names mentioned in this letter must be treated as FIR for putting me to a situation and provoking me to commit suicide (sic).”
Mr Sen had launched a media empire under the Saradha Group banner which, along with the chit fund, went bust last month. A cornered and desperate Ms Banerjee tried to put up a brave front. While blaming the Centre for the chitfund operations in her state, she announced a relief package of `500 crore for the investors. She has also approached a section of corporate houses to take over and run the media units of the Saradha Group. Nearly 1,000 scribes have lost their jobs following the closure of its media units. Ms Banerjee has also set up a special investigation team to probe the group’s dealings.
On Wednesday, the income-tax department initiated an investigation into the finances and transactions of the group. A PIL has been filed in the Calcutta high court seeking a CBI probe into the activities of the Saradha Group. The PIL has also sought the appointment of a receiver to attach the group’s properties.
While Mr Kunal Ghosh was the CEO of the Saradha media group, Mr Srinjoy Bose’s Bengali daily, Pratidin, provided content to television’s Channel 10. Both these Trinamul MPs denied any link with the chit fund.
Meanwhile, after the Saradha scare, investors are now worried about another chit fund company — Rose Valley — operating in the state. Like the Saradha Group, Rose Valley also owns television channels in West Bengal and is also under Sebi’s scanner.
However, in the letter to the CBI, Mr Sen alleged that he ventured into the media business following pressure and attacks from Pratidin, the Bengali daily owned by Trinamul Rajya Sabha MP Srinjoy Bose.
As Mr Sen entered the Bengal market during the last years of Left Front rule, Mr Kunal Ghosh, who was then an associate editor with Pratidin, began writing articles attacking the Saradha Group. Mr Sen’s letter to the CBI stated that in Pratidin Mr Kunal Ghosh “led the attack” against him and went to the extent of complaining against the Saradha Group to the then Left Front finance minister, Asim Dasgupta. “I found myself helpless to combat the media attack and I thought I must enter the media business,” Mr Sen’s letter to the CBI states. On a television channel, while Mr Ghosh admitted writing the articles, Mr Srinjoy Bose claimed he had “no such knowledge”.
In 2010, the Saradha Group launched its media empire, which included the English daily Bengal Post, a Bengali daily, Sokalbela, and an Urdu daily called Koram, and also bought a bouquet of channels that included Channel 10 and Tara Music. Mr Kunal Ghosh, who had emerged as Ms Banerjee’s “blue-eyed boy”, joined the Saradha media group as its CEO. Mr Sen’s letter to the CBI claimed he entered into an agreement with Pratidin after he bought Channel 10 and that he “shall pay `60 lakh per month to Pratidin and Kunal Ghosh be appointed the CEO of the channel at a salary of `15 lakh per month”. His letter to the CBI also claimed that Mr Ghosh and Mr Bose “also brought filmstar Mithun Chakravorty at `20 lakhs as the channels’ brand ambassador”.
He then alleged that “Mithun Chakravorty did not participate in any function of the channel except one talk show”. His letter to the CBI also alleged that Pratidin assured him that because of his agreement they would “protect my business interests from the state and Central governments.” He alleged that in the last two years Pratidin has taken approximately “`20 crore” from him and that “most of the payments were made by cheque”.
However, during 2012, the financial crisis hit the group and Mr Bose said his “deal with the channel fell through in May last year because Saradha’s cheques were bouncing”. A section of Trinamul leaders claimed that after Pratidin terminated its deal with the group, Mr Kunal Ghosh was upgraded from CEO to executive chairman of the Saradha Group. While Mr Sen alleged in his letter to the CBI that Mr Kunal Ghosh, along with some miscreants, forced him to sell Channel 10 at a paltry amount of `55 lakhs, there is no confirmation of who is the main owner of the channel at this juncture.