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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Chit-fund scam: Saradha agents lay siege to Mamata house -Saibal Sen & Caesar Mandal

Chit-fund scam: Saradha agents lay siege to Mamata house -Saibal Sen & Caesar Mandal

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published Published on Apr 20, 2013   modified Modified on Apr 20, 2013
-The Times of India


KOLKATA: Bengal is sitting on a powder keg. And the fuse could well have been lit on Friday as a 33-year-old agent of Saradha Group, a chit fund company that has gone bust, committed suicide being unable to pay his depositors while over 3,000 agents laid siege to chief minister Mamata Banerjee's residence in protest against the lockdown.

The turn of events has triggered fears of a repeat of the Sanchayita chit fund collapse of 1980 that ruined tens of thousands of families and drove many to suicide.

The Saradha agent hanged himself in Durgapur, unable to repay his depositors. Some of the agent leaders from rural areas have liabilities over Rs 20 crore. They are already selling off family jewellery and land to pay up angry depositors. Agents and depositors - who number in lakhs - have been pushed beyond the edge of desperation.

Friday's siege of Mamata's house could only the beginning. Depositors ransacked Saradha offices in Baruipur, Tarakeswar, Goghat, Murshidabad, Birbhum and East Midnapore, indicating that the flames are spreading gradually. It's only a matter of time before the angry millions start marching from the villages to Kolkata to demand an answer from Trinamool Congress leaders, some of whom were seen as the flag-bearers of the Saradha Group. It would be a disaster for the ruling party with panchayat polls round the corner.

Trinamool leaders are desperately trying to distance themselves from the raging fire but the ruling party cannot wash its hands of the muddle so easily. Saradha Group CMD Sudipta Sen is known for his proximity to Trinamool Congress and Party MP Kunal Ghosh was the Group CEO of Saradha's media interests. Mamata is fighting the biggest challenge of her political career. Sen has gone missing and agents suspect that he may be getting political shelter.

The agents staged the protest after talks failed with Trinamool leader Mukul Roy. "Roy's assurance of the government backing the group sounded so hollow that we decided to demand justice from the CM. Since Writers' Buildings is out of bounds, we chose her home," said Alok Chowdhury, a team leader who has a string of agents with Rs 65 crore in deposits that have disappeared with Sudipto Sen.

"We will not budge until the CM promises that Sudipta Sen will be arrested and his property confiscated to repay the depositors," an angry agent shouted to thunderous applause at the protest site. "We have sold our family assets to repay depositors following false assurances from Sen that payments would begin from April 16. Now we cannot return home for fear of being lynched," said Syed Maqsood, another agent.

Top police officers fear the crisis will turn more difficult and volatile in the days ahead.


The Times of India, 20 April, 2013, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata/Chit-fund-scam-Saradha-agents-lay-siege-to-Mamata-house/articleshow/19643453.cms


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