CBI raids TMC MP Tapas Paul home, 42 other Rose Valley locations

Probing a multi-crore rupee chit fund scam, the CBI on Wednesday conducted raids at 43 locations of the Rose Valley Group across the country, including the home of Trinamool Congress MP Tapas Paul.

"In an ongoing investigation, searches are being conducted at 43 locations across the country including 27 in West Bengal, 7 in Tripura and 1 location each in Odisha, Assam, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Tamil Nadu," said a CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) official.

"Apart from offices, searches are being conducted at the residential premises of Rose Valley Group chairman Gautam Kundu, managing director Shibamoy Dutta and then directors of the group including Abir Kundu, Ramlal Goswami, Ashok Kumar Saha and present Lok Sabha MP Tapas Paul," added the official.

The Enforcement Directorate, which is also probing the scam, had sealed several bank accounts of the group across the country and interrogated Kundu.

The group's properties were confiscated in Odisha following a court order on February 25.

Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha, in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha last month, said the Saradha Group and the Rose Valley raised Rs.12,740 crore illegally.

According to Sinha, investigations revealed that the Rose Valley Group raised as much as Rs.10,281 crore from investors while Saradha firms had mobilised Rs.2,459 crore.