Saradha scam: CBI custody of Sen, Kunal Ghosh extended

 Kolkata, June 23 (IANS): A court on Monday extended the CBI custody of three Saradha chit fund scam accused, including kingpin Sudipta Sen and suspended Trinamool Congress MP Kunal Ghosh, to June 26, while three others were remanded in 14 days’ judicial custody, a counsel said.

Saradha promoter Sen, and Ghosh, who headed the group’s media arm, and company employees Debjani Mukherjee, Manoj Nagel, Somnath Dutta and Arvind Singh Chauhan were presented before the court on the expiry of the seven days’ CBI custody granted by the court June 16.

"The court of Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Haradhan Mukhopadhyay extended the CBI custody of Sen, Ghosh and Mukherjee till June 26, while the rest three have been remanded in 14 days’ judicial custody," counsel for the accused Anirban Guha Thakurta said.

While Sen and close aide Mukherjee were arrested from Kashmir in April 2013, Ghosh was nabbed in November last year by the state police. The others were arrested subsequently.

Suspended by the Trinamool for "anti-party" activities, Ghosh has repeatedly alleged the involvement of several of his party colleagues in the state’s biggest financial scandal that came to light in April last year.

While being presented before the court, Ghosh expressed happiness over his interrogation by the Central Bureau of Investigation sleuths.

"I had a lot of things to say about the scam and I am happy that I could provide the CBI information that might help them," said Ghosh.

He earlier wrote to the Enforcement Directorate, also probing the scam, expressing fear for his life and urged the agency to interrogate several powerful politicians involved in the scam.

The Supreme Court May 9 ordered a CBI probe into the chit fund scam which duped over 20 lakh people.