Saradha scam: Another agent commits suicide in Bengal

In the wake of the Saradha chit fund scam that has rocked West Bengal, the spate of distressed agents and operators of ponzi firms committing suicide continued, with yet another agent ending his life.

Mrinal Mondal, an agent of Self Trust Enterprise Limited, a deposit-seeking firm in North 24-Parganas district's Basirhat, was declared dead late Monday night in a city hospital where he was being treated after he consumed pesticide Sunday.

Mondal was being hounded by investors after a shopping mall of the company in Basirhat closed down nearly a month ago.

"The owner of the company is absconding and the investors were hounding Mondal to refund their money. He sold a part of his land to pay back the investors," said a family member of the 40-year-old.

Meanwhile, police have registered a case of murder into the death of Jayanta Sarkar, who was found dead in his house in Hooghly's Chinsurah Sunday night. He used to run a small deposit-seeking firm.

While police had initially called it a case of suicide, the Sarkar's wife later filed a complaint of murder, accusing three people whom Sarkar had met on the fateful night.

So far, at least 10 lives have been reported lost after the chit fund scam exploded in the state.