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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Saradha scam: probe agencies face 'political' hurdles -Bibhas Bhattacharyya

Saradha scam: probe agencies face 'political' hurdles -Bibhas Bhattacharyya

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published Published on Jun 9, 2013   modified Modified on Jun 9, 2013
-The Hindustan Times


Kolkata: Probing the infamous Saradha scam for Bengal's investigating agencies is like searching for the man who stole overcoats in Nikolai Gogol's The Overcoat. It is a mammoth task made more difficult due to the involvement of political bigwigs.

The enormity of the challenge is manifold. First, the web of financial irregularities amounting to thousands of crores of rupees. Second, the involvement of politicians in the scam and third, the way the scam rendered lakhs of people penniless.

The lure of easy money

By promising high returns, Sudipta Sen, the owner of Saradha Group, convinced lakhs of investors to deposit money in various schemes. The lure of fast and easy money was impossible for many to avoid.

According to an officer of the Bidhannagar city police, Sen had taken money from the public promising high returns. But many of the cheques that were issued bounced and people were denied their promised share. In addition, his tour and travels company promised interesting vacations but many complained that despite depositing money they were denied the vacation. At the same time, he allegedly cheated many people promising them flats and plots of land.

Some of the employees of his media companies have also alleged that their salaries were denied for months.

The scam was perpetrated through hundreds of front companies. It was not only carried out in Bengal, but also in neighbouring states like Assam, Tripura, Jharkhand and Bihar. Till date, the cops have no trace of how many people have actually been cheated.

The progress so far

According to an officer of the Bidhannagar city police, Sen had taken money from the public promising high returns. But many of the cheques that were issued bounced and people were denied their promised share. In addition, his tour and travels company promised interesting vacations but many complained that despite depositing money they were denied the vacation. At the same time, he allegedly cheated many people promising them flats and plots of land.

Some of the employees of his media companies have also alleged that their salaries were denied for months.

The scam was perpetrated through hundreds of front companies. It was not only carried out in Bengal, but also in neighbouring states like Assam, Tripura, Jharkhand and Bihar. Till date, the cops have no trace of how many people have actually been cheated.

The progress so far

On Friday, Sudipta Sen appealed before the Calcutta High Court, asking it to take charge of all assets of his companies, projects, media houses, bank accounts and sell them off to repay the dues of the genuine customers and employees of his companies.

The court is yet to take the decision. This is a definite legal strategy to highlight his "willingness" to pay and explain his helplessness because his company went bankrupt. However, if this is a legal ploy, Sen can claim some kind of innocence only if he can pay a certain amount to investors who have been cheated.

The police now have a gigantic task of properly accounting Sen and his company's assets. They need to frame all the cases against Sen and other political honchos properly. The court and the investigating agencies also have to ascertain whether these assets truly belong to the accused and most importantly, whether the victims could be paid back their money.

Sen's imminent release from jail, even if it's on bail, however, does not look that bright as cases outside Bengal are yet to be probed properly and the police of those states would like to take him in custody and interrogate him.


The Hindustan Times, 9 June, 2013, http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/Kolkata/Saradha-scam-probe-agencies-face-political-hurdles/Article1-1073375.aspx


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