-The Telegraph Kolkata: Mamata Banerjee today waved at a rally photographs and newspaper advertisements that she claimed established "links" between CPM leaders and the Saradha Group and other deposit-mobilising companies, but steered clear of commenting on Trinamul's alleged connections with such entities. Addressing her first public meeting since the Saradha crisis unfolded, the chief minister did not mention if she was planning action against Trinamul leaders whose names have cropped up in...

-The Telegraph Two companies running investment schemes have been shut down in Bengal within 48 hours of little more than an assertion by the chief minister, raising questions why the Trinamul government dragged its feet on Saradha by citing lack of legislation and complaints. Police have sealed some offices of MPS Greenery Developers Ltd and Prayag Infotech Hi-Rise Ltd following complaints of cheating. Both figure on a list of companies against which...

-Economic and Political Weekly The Saradha group's collapse has possibly bankrupted lakhs of small investors robbing them of their life svaings, and has rendered thousands of its agents jobless. The scam highlights the failure of the government and its regulatory agencies to reign in the mushrooming chit fund companies in West Bengal. It also brings under the scanner the Trinamool Congress' proximity with the tainted group. In the wake of the...

-The Telegraph Kolkata: Arrested Saradha Group chief Sudipta Sen, the architect of the default crisis in Bengal, has said he had approached several CPM leaders over his business, police said. Sen, who was brought to Calcutta late last night and kept in police custody before his court production this afternoon, has told the police he had met a CPM state committee member in 2008 over a possible investment in a news channel...

-CNN-IBN Kolkata: West Bengal Governor MK Narayanan has called a special session of the state Assembly next week beginning April 29 to discuss the chit fund scam. Speaker Biman Banerjee, in fact, has called an all-party meeting at 3 pm on Friday to discuss the special session. But the TMC wants the West Bengal Protection of Depositors' Interest in Financial Institution Bill to be returned by the Centre so that it could...