Saradha scam: CBI grills TMC leaders

Subhranshu Gupta

Tribune News service

Kolkata, December 29

The CBI today interrogated TMC youth leader Shankudev Ponda and TMC minority cell leader Aniruddin Siddique for their alleged involvement in the Saradha chit-fund scam at the Salt Lake CGO complex.

Siddique was the original owner of Urdu weekly “Kolom (Pen)”, which was sold to Saradha Group at an exorbitant price allegedly at the insistence of TMC leader Mukul Roy. Sonkudev was drawing Rs60,000 monthly from Saradha Group, but he couldn’t explain why he was getting the money from the firm. He had allegedly received funds from the group for party works.

After interrogation, Siddique told mediapersons that he had been questioned about the selling of paper to Sudipto Sen, who was the chairman and managing director of Saradha Group. But, Shankudev evaded the media.

The CBI had arrested Bengal Sports Minister Madan Mitra and interrogated artist Suvaprasanna, TMC MP Arpita Ghosh, actor Mithun Chakraborty among others.

Leaders to be summoned

The investigation agency has prepared a list of political leaders to be summoned at the CBI office in coming days. The list includes Mukul Roy, KD Singh, Firhad Hakim, Partha Chatterjee, Sishir Adhikary and Hasan Imran.

The list has been prepared after the CBI gathered new evidences following the interrogation of Madan Mitra, Rajat Majumdar, Srinjoy Bose, Asif Khan and Kunal Ghosh, Sudipto Sen and Debjani Mukherjee (all now in jail).