Mamata Banerjee’s cup of chit fund woes seems to be getting deeper by the day. Close on the heels of Bengal Transport Minister Madan Mitra’s arrest by the CBI, Enforcement Directorate has sent notice of appearance to Trinamool Congress MP and its prominent civil society face Arpita Ghosh, sources said, adding she would be asked to explain the payment of `85 lakh by jailed Saradha chief Sudipto Sen.
Ghosh reportedly had told the ED on an earlier appearance that her financial transactions with the Saradha group were limited to her role as the chief of one of her media wings. The ED was however not impressed and would like to know more about `85 lakh that went from Sen to Ghosh, a first time MP from Balurghat who had doggedly led the movement against the left Government on issues like Nandigram and Singur violence.
Suvaprasanna the grey-bearded artist who had enjoyed a close chemistry with the Chief Minister and even thrown open his Salt lake house for numerous meetings of the Trinamool minded civil society members attended amongst others by Banerjee herself was also getting strong notice from the ED apparently for failing to appear before the Directorate officials to explain his financial transaction with the Saradha group that allegedly purchased his media channel worth a few lakh for about `6 crore.
The artist whose subject Raven drew accolades world over was now drawing stringent action from the ED, sources said. Such actions include attachment of his properties — hotels and flats in Mumbai and lands in Kolkata. The ED has already frozen his 27 bank accounts worth `50 lakh or so.
The ED is keeping both the options open: Arresting the artist and filing a chargesheet against him. A third Trinamool MP who was also likely to receive ED summons sometime next week was megastar of yesteryear Mithun Chakraborty whose reported explanation of receiving `2 crore from the Saradha group as a fees for his role as the Group’s brand ambassador has failed to satisfy the ED officials sources said.
According to sources transaction reports show how `2 crore from the Saradha landed up in the actor’s accounts. Though, in an earlier encounter he explained the receipt as part of his fees as a brand ambassador of the Group, ED sources said he could not furnish details of such transactions. “For instance there is no evidence of the star doing any film shooting for the Group during this period.”
According to sources, the ED besides summoning Chakraborty for interrogation for the second time may direct him to refund `2 crore to the Saradha. This apart at least two more MPs were likely to get summons from the ED, sources said. These two MPs including a woman belong to the Trinamool Congress and were elected from South Bengal constituencies for the second time in 2014.
Meanwhile, the CBI reportedly continued to grill intensely Madan Mitra who had earlier complained before a court that he was being pressurised to take Mamata Banerjee’s name in the scam. “A report in this regard is being sent to Delhi office, CBI sources said, adding Mitra’s interrogation had revealed many facts hitherto unknown by the Agency.