Mohun Bagan stands by East Bengal after official's arrest

On a day when one of its top officials was arrested by the CBI in connection with the multi-crore-rupee Saradha chit fund scam, city soccer outfit East Bengal Wednesday got the backing of arch rivals Mohun Bagan.

A top Bagan official said the prestigious club cannot be held liable for the wrongdoing of an individual.

"The club can't be made liable. It is individual liability. Why should the club take the liability fo an individual?" said Mohun Bagan general secretary Anjan Mitra, hours after the investigating agency arrested East Bengal Football Club's key official Debabrata Sarkar in connection with the scandal.

Mitra said East Bengal was a nearly 100-year-old club.

"If somebody has done any mischief by taking the name of the club, then there is law to deal with it," he said.

Accused by scam mastermind Sudipta Sen of extorting money, Sarkar was taken into custody after multiple sessions of grilling by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate, which too is probing the scam.

The CBI also raided Sarkar's residence Aug 14 and seized several documents.

East Bengal officials have called an emergency meeting Friday to decide the future course of action.

In a letter written purportedly by Sen to the CBI in April 2013, Sen alleged that he had paid money to Sarkar and his accomplices since 2010 to cover up a probe then being conducted by market regulator SEBI.