Saradha scam: Painter Shuvaprasanna grilled for nearly 5 hours

Painter Shuvaprasanna Bhattacharya was on Monday grilled for nearly five hours by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with a business deal he made with Saradha Group chief and now jailed scam kingpin Sudipta Sen.

Perceived to be close to leaders of West Bengal's ruling Trinamool Congress, Bhattacharya was quizzed over two sessions by sleuths of the ED, which is probing the money trail in the multi-crore-rupee Saradha ponzi scam.

Bhattacharya, who left the ED office in the afternoon, did not answer any questions from the waiting media persons.

The ED has in the past months questioned the painter twice regarding the sale of Devkripa Vyapar Pvt. Ltd, the holding company of Akhon Samay, a news channel.

Despite the channel never going on air, Bhattacharya is alleged to have sold it to Sen at an inflated price in 2011.

Bhattacharya, who earlier had submitted documents about the deal to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) - which too is probing the scam - has repeatedly denied the charges.

The ED sent summons to both Bhattacharya and city businessman and Indian Super League franchise Atletico de Kolkata co-owner Harsh Neotia earlier this month.

Neotia is slated to appear before the agency on March 27.

The duo was also interrogated by the agency on October 13 last year.