KOLKATA: The CBI probing the multi-crore Saradha chit fund scam on Monday issued notice to the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) seeking details of trade licences issued by it to several of the disgraced group companies.
The probe agency, during its several raids, had found that the 45 trade licences issued to various Saradha companies had the same registered address-- 455 Diamond Harbour Road in the Western part of the city.
The CBI notice to the chief manager (Licence Department) of the KMC, wanted to know on whose application the trade licences were issued, whether any inspection was done before the licences were issued and the amount paid to the KMC for securing the licence.
However, Mayor Sobhan Chatterjee,who belongs to the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC), denied having received any notice and rather questioned the jurisdiction of the CBI.
“Till(Monday) afternoon I don’t know of any notice. But the CBI’s activities being under the Central government is now exposed as the media has copies of the notice though we have not received it. If at all the notice comes we will examine its legal validity and then decide what to reply,” he said.
However, Congress councillor Prakash Upadhyay, who had first spoken about the “licence scam in the KMC” and submitted several documents to the CBI on his own, alleged, “The Mayor has been in denial about such a large number of trade licences issued for a single premise for various companies of Saradha Group. The CBI’s notice vindicates my stand and like many other ministers and TMC leaders, the Mayor too is involved the Saradha scam.”