Saradha scam: CBI makes first arrest with direct TMC link

Agency raided residence of a TMC leader and former DG of Armed Police Rajat Majumdar, Saradha employee

CBI recently quizzed Asif Khan, an aide of TMC general secretary and Rajya Sabha MP Mukul Roy and conducted searches at his residence

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Tuesday arrested former West Bengal police chief and Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Rajat Majumdar in connection with the multi-crore Saradha chit fund scam. While this is the third set of arrest by CBI in connection to the scam, Majumdar is the first TMC leader to be arrested by the investigative agency.

Majumdar used to serve Sudipta Sen-led Saradha Group as ‘security advisor’. Last month, CBI raided the residence of a TMC leader and former director general of armed police Rajat Majumdar, who was once an employee at Saradha group.

Incidentally, former TMC MP and journalist Kunal Ghosh before being arrested by West Bengal police in connection to Saradha, in a 36-minute video broadcast on a local Bengali channel last year named Majumdar and several other TMC leaders for their alleged complicity in the Saradha scam.

After taking over the investigation following Supreme Court order, CBI had earlier arrested East Bengal Football Club official Debabrata Sarkar and city-businessman Sandhir Agarwal. CBI recently quizzed Asif Khan, a close aide of TMC general secretary and Rajya Sabha MP Mukul Roy and conducted searches at his residence. The enforcement directorate, which is also carrying out a parallel probe into the money trail of Saradha, had earlier quizzed TMC Lok Sabha MP Arpita Paul and Rajya Sabha MP Ahmad Hassan Imran. Both were associated with Saradha group’s media arm.