The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday arrested Prashanto Naskar — a close aide of the key accused in the Saradha scam, Sudipto Sen — for alleged money laundering into the chit fund scam. This is the fifth arrest by ED in the Saradha scam case. The agency had earlier registered a criminal case under the Prevention of Money laundering Act. Prominent among those arrested by the agency in this case include Sudipta’s wife Piyali and son Subhojit who were apprehended last year.
The agency arrested 40-year-old Naskar after few hours of interrogation at its Kolkata office. Naskar was a major agent of Saradha schemes in the Bishnupur area of West Bengal and is said to be closely connected to a senior TMC leader. The ED probe has unearthed Naskar possessing a large number of movable and immovable assets in Bishnupur area, sources said.
Naskar is holding 'benami' properties including vast tracts of land in and around Bishnupur and a residential house with modern facilities like a large swimming pool. The agency suspects these assets could have been procured illegally through the ‘proceeds of crime’ of the scam and may seek attachment proceedings subsequently. ED which has questioned various TMC MPs and other suspects in this scam, including Sen, has attached assets worth Rs500 crore till now.