Second FIR filed against TMC MP

Employees of a closed Bengali daily Sakalbela filed an FIR against him

A second FIR has been filed against Kunal Ghosh by employees of a closed Bengali daily, Sakalbela, owned by the Saradha Group for non-payment of salaries, with the Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha member offering to resign.

Police sources said that the employees of the newspaper filed the FIR against Ghosh last night at the Bhawanipore police station for non-payment of their salaries.

Earlier, a similar FIR was filed at the Park Street police station against Ghosh, Saradha Group chairman Sudipta Sen and six others by 21 employees of a television channel, Channel 10, run by the group, for non payment of their salaries and for not depositing their provident fund dues.

Ghosh in a six page letter to party chief Mamata Banerjee which was uploaded to the Trinamool Congress website last night said that he was ready to face and co-operate with any investigation.

"I am not connected with the Saradha's money market activities. I am ready to resign as a Rajya Sabha member if investigation revealed (complicity in the scam)," he said.

Ghosh said that he had joined the media unit of the Saradha Group before joining the TMC.

Meanwhile, Left Front chairman Biman Bose said that Ghose as the Saradha Group media CEO could not evade responsibility.

"Now under pressure Ghose is saying that he was an ordinary employee, but an ordinary employee doesn't get Rs 15 lakh as salary (per month)," Bose, a CPIM politburo member said.

The TMC MP had claimed that he was only an employee with responsibility for editorial content of the channel.

"I was not the owner. Finance and accounts were not under me. I did not have cheque signing authority. Attempts are being made to tarnish my image," Ghosh said.

He said that Sudipta Sen, the Saradha Group chairman, was the owner of Channel 10.