The shadowy bundle of contradictions
Sudipta Sen, chairman and managing director of Saradha Group, burst into our lives on June 15, 2010, when we joined The Bengal Post. We were told he was fabulously rich, with interests in real estate, tourism and even mines in Australia and South Africa, and was now ready to invest in media. There was not a hint of his multi-level marketing – loosely called chit fund -- operations.
Now that the bubble has burst, several things are falling into place. But Sen remains an enigma. The most important question still unanswered is whether he was a Ponzi king or a fool led by unscrupulous politicians and crooks.
Sen knew he was on the wrong side of the law and liberally doled out money to get protection. But we may never know the full story, considering the games to be played out when his letter to the CBI is investigated.
His background has always been shadowy. Nobody knew about his roots although a Bengali ‘gentleman’ with that kind of money would be well entrenched in the Kolkata social circuit.
As an employee of The Bengal Post, I never saw him interfering in policy matters – except one rider that the Trinamool Congress must never be criticised. One more decision that surprised me was his furious reaction to front page advertisements of other companies. He wanted only his com- panies to occupy that space. Now, it seems that he wanted to impress his investors and agents with those ads.
Ironically, Sen who is making headlines now, preferred to be in the background and let his minions hog the limelight. He was even timid when it came to showing off his wealth -- possibly as they were ill-gotten -- but knew very well that money talks.
Sen himself was far from the confi- dent business tycoon. He was so badly dressed that I was shocked the first time I saw him in our Delhi office. He was nervous, fiddling with the three cell phones that he carried, and seemed in a hurry to get over the meeting.
He was with three or four people. All of them looked like criminals, with gold rings and heavy chains and white sandals. I could never find out who they were.
The meeting was short with Sen looking extremely uncomfortable. His chief aide Debjani Mukherjee was also there with flaky foundation, overdone make-up and a sweet smile on her face.
Sen had a kind side too. Salaries in the paper were paid in batches – first the office boys, peons and drivers, then junior reporters and finally the seniors. He felt that the poorest needed the money first. That was the ultimate contradiction in his character.