Charge sheet filed against former Bengal minister

The West Bengal Police Tuesday filed a charge sheet against CPI-M leader and former state housing minister Gautam Deb in the irregularities committed in transactions of a joint venture company formed by then Left Front government with a private firm during his ministerial tenure.

The charge sheet was filed by the state Criminal Investigation Department against several other top functionaries of the Housing Board and housing department in relation to the financial wrongdoings in the transactions of the Bengal Greenfield Housing Development Corporation Limited.

"The chargesheet was filed against Gautam Deb and 16 others. It relates to the investigation into the major financial irregularities in transactions of the Bengal Greenfield Housing Development Corporation Limited," said a top CID officer.

The charges include cheating, misuse of government property and misuse of office.

Deb, a Communist Party of India-Marxist central committee and state secretariat member, was unavailable for comment.

But sources close to him said Deb would comment only after going through the charge sheet in detail.

He was earlier interrogated twice in June and July after a first information report was lodged alleging that a housing project during his tenure, led to Rs. 20 crore loss to the state exchequer.

The FIR was lodged April 2 by West Bengal Housing Board secretary Ajay Dutta implicating several people of irregularities concerning a project by the BGHDCL, a joint venture with the state.