Bengal chit fund agent commits suicide

An agent of a deposit firm committed suicide in North 24-Parganas district, police said Monday while West Bengal continued to grapple with the fallout of the chit fund scam, involving big companies like Saradha Group.

Twenty-seven-year-old Ujjwal Sammaddar, who worked for Sanmarg, a chit fund company, was found hanging Sunday in his home in Bashirhat in the district.

Sammaddar was being hounded by depositors who have been seeking refund of their money after the Saradha Group went bust in April, police said.

In another incident, a school student who had invested nearly Rs.75,000 in the Saradha Group, is battling for his life in a hospital after he consumed pesticide Sunday.

Class XI student Sahanur Islam, who also worked as a part-time security guard, was under depression ever since the tainted Saradha Group went bust.

"He had been depositing the money in the company for the marriage of his elder sister. After the collapse of the company, he tried to get his investment back, but could not. He had been depressed for a quite a few days and last night (Sunday) he tried to kill himself by consuming pesticide," Islam's father said.

Already, a number of agents and depositors of Saradha and similar chit fund companies have committed suicide, while offices of a large number of such dubious concerns operating in the state have been attacked.