The CBI on Saturday arrested former Union Minister Matang Sinh in connection with the inter-State multi-crore Saradha chit fund scam after he was grilled by the agency for over seven hours in Kolkata. Sinh has been arrested in connection with Saradha Realty case on charges of criminal conspiracy, cheating and misappropriation of funds, a CBI spokesperson said.
He had been earlier questioned by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with Saradha scam in Delhi. Sinh reached the CBI office at the CGO complex in Kolkata on Saturday for being questioned for the first time. He was arrested following his extensive grilling. Sinh was grilled about his business transactions with Saradha group chief Sudipto Sen.
Talking to reporters earlier, Sinh claimed, “Getting into a business deal is not a crime. I do not know Sudipto Sen.” The former Congress MP from Assam said he had “submitted money to the Shyamal Sen commission”, formed soon after the Saradha scam broke, to repay the investors. CBI sources said his arrest became imminent as he was not cooperating with the investigation team on some important issues prompting the agency to take him into their custody during which another round of examination might take place.
The agency had last year carried out searches at Sinh and his estranged wife Manoranjana’s two premises in Delhi and three in Guwahati. Sinh’s residence and office at Gole Market in Delhi was searched as part of the agency coordinated raids across 30 locations across the country. Saradha scam mastermind Sudipto Sen had allegedly invested significant amount of money in two television channels run by Sinh and his estranged wife. Sinh also had close links to Sen, agency sources said.
Agency sources maintained Sinh’s custodial interrogation is expected to help the sleuths in unraveling the nexus between him, Sen and others. Apart from investigating the larger conspiracy involving the chit fund companies, a Special Investigation Team of the agency is also looking into the role of RBI and SEBI as their oversight is suspected to have helped in mushrooming a large number of dubious chit fund companies.