The Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) Police on Tuesday arrested Chief Managing Director of Saradha Group Sudipto Sen and two company officials from Sonamarg in Jammu in connection with the Kolkata chit fund scam. A vehicle bearing West Bengal registration, in which they were travelling, was also seized.
Sen had fled following the collapse of the Saradha Group that promoted the chit fund. Thousands of agents and investors were allegedly duped of over `30,000 crore in the scam. Soon after, the West Bengal Government put out a lookout notice for Sen.
“Three persons have been detained in Sonmarg area of Jammu and Kashmir. The police there have identified them as Sudipto Sen, Debjani Mukherjee and Arvind Singh Chauhan,” said Bidhannagar Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar.
The West Bengal Police said Sen would be produced in a court in J&K first and then they would make efforts to bring him back to West Bengal. Saradha Group has also shut 10 of its news and infotainment divisions rendering over 800 media professionals jobless. The group is believed to have close ties with the ruling Trinamool Congress and party MP Kunal Ghosh was part of its media business before he resigned in April.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had ordered a high level inquiry into the chit fund scam on Monday and also set up a special investigation team to launch probe. Securities and Exchange Board of India, the market regulator, has also initiated a fresh probe into the fundraising activities of Saradha Group. The scam resulted in political mud-slinging with the TMC blaming the erstwhile Left Front government and the Centre.