CBI arrests Madan Mitra: A look at prominent TMC leaders held in Saradha scam

The CBI today arrested West Bengal Transport Minister Madan Mitra in connection with the Saradha chit fund scam. This is the third prominent Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader who has been held by the police in the case. [caption id=“attachment_1847217” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Three prominent TMC leaders have been arrested in the Saradha scam so far. PTI[/caption] The Trinamool Congress launched a scathing attack on the BJP after Mitra’s arrest. “Lok Sabha will be rocked because of Madan Mitra’s arrest,” said TMC’s Subrata Mukherjee. “BJP is using CBI for politics of hate. CBI is being run by BJP and Amit Shah himself. Madan Mitra’s arrest is politically motivated. We condemn it,” he said. With BJP taking a dig at West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee over the Saradha scam on many occasions, the political rivalry between TMC and BJP has become even more bitter. Who were the other TMC leaders arrested earlier? Kunal Ghosh: Suspended TMC MP Kunal Ghosh was arrested by the police in connection with the Saradha scam in November 2013. Ghosh, the CEO of Saradha Group’s media arm, had been charged under sections 420 (cheating), 406 (criminal breach of trust) and 120B (conspiracy) of the IPC. Ghosh was a Rajya Sabha member of the Trinamool Congress. He is a journalist, was earlier group CEO of Saradha’s media unit. Srinjoy Bose: Srinjoy Bose was the second prominent TMC leader to be arrested in connection with the scam. He was arrested last month and had been allegedly named by chit fund CMD Sudipta Sen as one of the two TMC MPs who blackmailed him. Bose is the son of shipping magnate Tutu Bose, who is a Rajya Sabha TMC MP. He owns a stake in one of the country’s top football club ‘Mohun Bagan’and was also the owner of ‘Sambad Pratidin’, the daily which had Kunal Ghosh as its editor. Madan Mitra: Madan Mitra is the legislator from the Kamarhati assembly constituency who had appeared as a guest in several Saradha programmes where he had praised group promoter and scam kingpin Sudipta Sen for generating employment. The CBI had earlier grilled Mitra’s former confidential assistant Bapi Karim. Mitra is the second state minister to be grilled by the CBI, earlier Textile Minister Shyamapada Mukherjee was questioned. (With agency inputs)