A day after deposed general secretary of the Trinamool Congress Mukul Roy communicated to the CBI about his inability to answer its queries about the party’s various sources of income, particularly the proceeds that came from selling paintings and books, the agency sources said that a fresh letter with similar queries was being sent to new all India general secretary Subroto Bakshi.
While the Trinamool leadership was tightlipped about the party’s next course of action, senior leader and State Minister Partho Chatterjee said, “We do not have any letter now so we cannot talk hypothetically. First let the mail come, and then only we will answer all the queries.”
Earlier the CBI had reportedly emailed its queries to the former Railway Minister asking about the fund management of the Trinamool Congress and its sources of income particularly the income that was generated from the sale of paintings and books.
Incidentally party chief Mamata Banerjee had repeatedly told in public meetings and the media that her party did not need to raise funds separately as it was run by the proceeds from the sale of her paintings and books.
One of her paintings had reportedly been sold for a whopping price of Rs1.84 crore and had become the issue of political jibes during electoral campaigns in 2014 with even then BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi questioning how a person who was not a professional painter could sell her paintings for such a high price.
The Chief Minister had thus far not clarified her position on the issue even as the Opposition left and the BJP cried hoarse about a large chunk of Saradha and other chit fund money going to Trinamool Congress through the way of purchasing paintings.
When asked jailed Saradha chief Sudipto Sen however once told the media that he had not purchased any painting for Rs1.84 crore from anyone.
According to the CBI sources, the Trinamool Congress had allegedly recorded an income of whopping Rs2.53 crore through sale of paintings in the financial year 2012-2013. However there was no such income recorded for the following financial year 2013-2014 or thereafter.
Curiously this was the period when Sen had gone to jail. He was arrested post April 2013.
The CBI’s queries now reaching the doors of Trinamool Bhavan seemed to have sent its leaders in a tizzy. “It is difficult for the Trinamool to answer who bought Didi’s art and more so where are those art works nowIJ” said Congress leader and main petitioner for a CBI inquiry in the Supreme Court.
The CBI earlier asked the uneasy question from Roy as to who bought Banerjee’s paintings for that high a price. The notice reportedly signed by CBI SP T Bardhan was sent to the Trinamool office and a reply was sought by Tuesday.
“I have just become the all-India general secretary and so it is not possible for me to answer right now without getting information,” Bakshi a Kolkata South MP said while Partho Chatterjee said he did not have the copy of the notice with him so “we will reply when we get the notice.”
Meanwhile, in what is being viewed as a big jolt for the Trinamool Congress, a city court on Tuesday ordered the police to arrest Shibaji Panja a businessman and a close aide of Mamata Banerjee who was earlier arrested soon after returning from his Bangladesh trip with the Chief Minister before being released on conditional bail.
Known as one of the prime fund raisers of the Trinamool Congress Panja was arrested after a lookout notice was issued against him by the Delhi Police for allegedly defrauding a banking concern. He had allegedly submitted fake papers for taking a loan of Rs18 crore from Industrial Financial Corporation of India. Consequently a case of fraud was registered by the Economic Offence Wing of Delhi Police.
The Barrackpore Court which had earlier granted him the bail directed the Kolkata Police Commissioner to arrest Panja immediately for failing to appear before it on Tuesday. Panja had earlier filed a sick petition which failed to impress the court.