Trinamool assures action against those who duped people

Kolkata, April 21 (IANS) Facing the heat after the chit fund-funded Saradha Group went bust, West Bengal's ruling Trinamool Congress Sunday asserted that those who had "duped the people" will be brought to justice.

"Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has taken a tough stand on the issue. Those who have duped the people will be brought to justice," the party's national general secretary Mukul Roy said at a party rally here.

Thousands of depositors have been venting their anger across the state by attacking offices of the Saradha Group, which is virtually on the verge of collapse, while the opposition has trained its guns on the alleged collusion between Trinamool leaders and the group.

A Trinamool Rajya Sabha member Kunal Ghosh was the CEO of the company's media business till he resigned some time back.

Roy, however, put the blame on the CPI-M-led erstwhile Left Front regime for not taking any action when chit funds mushroomed during their rule.

"So many chit funds mushroomed in the state since 1980 when the LF was in power. Who gave them the licences to do business," he asked.

"This group (Saradha) was flourishing since 2008. It was the LF government of (then) chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee which gave them the clearances. Why didn't they take any action against them," asked Roy.

The Trinamool leader also alleged that during the last three months, the Communist party of India-Marxist party organ, Bengali daily Ganashakti got the maximum number of advertisements from the group.

Police have issued look-out notice for the group's absconding promoter Sudipta Sen, besides freezing his bank accounts and seizing papers of his properties. An official of a group company has also been arrested.