The CBI on Tuesday arrested Arindam Das, alias Bumba, a close aide of the Saradha group Chairman Sudipta Sen, who was allegedly one of the masterminds behind the money spinning scheme and absconding for the last nine months. Das was absconding since August last year when he was called for questioning by CBI in connection with the ongoing probe. He was arrested this morning from Sealdah station in Kolkata, the sources said.
“The arrested accused was one of the close associates of said Group’s CMD and he was instrumental in expanding the alleged illegal deposit collection business of the Group in the 24 Parganas(South) and other districts of West Bengal. He used to look after all the deposit collection in the areas under his control,” a CBI spokesperson said.
The spokesperson said Das was also named in a number of FIRs registered in connection with the alleged Chit Fund Scam at Baruipur, Sonarpur, Canning, Arambagh, Dubrajpur, Srirampur, Chanditala, Chandannagore, Durgapur and other police stations of West Bengal. “He had gone into hiding after CBI had called him for examination during August last year. He kept on changing his place of stay to evade his likely arrest by CBI. Considering his vital role in this mega chit fund scam, the SIT of CBI was constantly making efforts to trace him,” the official added.