SARADHA GROUP 'CHIEF' ARRESTED IN KASHMIR

By CJ Richa Rai in Kolkata

Saradha Group chief Sudipta Sen, who was on the run  since his chit fund went bust last week, was today arrested from a hotel in Sonmarg, Kashmir  along with his aids Debjani Mukhopadhyay and Arvind Singh Chouhan.

The  three were reportedly on their way from Srinagar to Sonmarg when they were intercepted by the Jammu and Kashmir Police.

Since last week, several offices of Saradha Group in different parts of Bengal have been ransacked by hapless agents, after many of the cheques issued by the group bounced. With a huge default in repayments, the group is on the verge of collapse.


The West Bengal government had already ordered Sen’s arrest.  Last week, when the  Bidhannagar police station, CID and the Kolkata police tried to act against Saradha Group chairman, he fled.

Widespread protests by investors were reported from North and South 24 Parganas, Howrah, Hooghly and Burdwan districts, where agents of the chit fund company were chased and heckled by depositors. A Burdwan report said that Jadav Majhi (33), an agent of the group, was found hanging from ceiling of a room at Mayabazar in Durgapur town on Friday. Police have registered a case of unnatural death.

But as lakhs of  investors in West Bengal lose their savings in a chit fund scam, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has been shifting the blame on the Left. This even as heat builds on Trinamool Congress MP Kunal Ghosh who headed Saradha group’s media unit. But he claims it was a while back when he was working as a journalist.

Meanwhile, a Public Interest Litigation has been filed in the Calcutta High Court for a CBI inquiry against the Saradha Group. The petition urges the court to appoint a receiver to seize properties of chit fund companies to auction them and pay back depositors.