Paid money to Adhir, Adhikaris and Mukul: Saradha case main accused
HT Correspondent
KOLKATA: Saradha Group owner Sudipta Sen, who is the main accused in the multi-crore chit fund case, on Thursday alleged he paid money to West Bengal Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, and Bharatiya Janata Party leader Suvendu Adhikari and his younger brother Soumendu when the two were in the Trinamool Congress.
Sen also named Mukul Roy, one of the founder members of the TMC who joined the BJP in 2017 but returned to TMC last year, as a recipient of funds from the Saradha Group.
Amid allegations of involvement of several TMC leaders in the case, over a dozen party MPS and MLAS have been questioned by CBI and ED so far.
Sen, who was arrested in 2013, made the allegations before the media while he was being taken to
Bankshall Court in Kolkata for hearing in a case related to Saradha Tours and Travels, one of the companies he owned.
“I wrote two letters (to the state government) naming not only Suvendu Adhikari but also Mukul Roy and Adhir Chowdhury,” he told reporters. “Our company was setting up a high-rise building at Contai town (East Midnapore). We gave ₹90 lakh to Contai municipality as asked by Suvendu Adhikari. But he manipulated the project. His brother Soumendu was also involved. The building plan was not passed,” he added.
Though Sen did not mention when he paid the money and when the project was taken up, it appeared as though he was referring to the time when Contai municipality was controlled by the Adhikari brothers for the TMC after the party came to power in the state in 2011.
Roy, who is indisposed, told reporters through his representatives that he has no knowledge of what Sen said.
Chowdhury said he will file a defamation suit against Sen. “Sen had made the same allegation earlier as well. I had sent him a notice for defaming me. He has not replied till now. Didi (Mamata Banerjee) is using Sen against me since I have a clean image but he needs more training,” he said.
HT tried to reach out to Suvendu Adhikari for a reaction but did not get one immediately.
State BJP chief spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya alleged Sen was tutored by the TMC government to implicate Suvendu.