In a development that has brought further embarrassment to the All India Trinamool Congress, suspended party MP Kunal Ghosh on Saturday said Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is the one who has benefited the most from scam-tainted Saradha Group’s media arm.
“If someone has benefited the most, directly and indirectly from the Saradha media, it is Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee,” Mr. Ghosh told journalists while being taken to the office of Central Bureau of Investigation ( CBI) said.
Earlier in the day, the suspended Trinamool MP, now behind bars in connection with the Saradha scam, told a city court that he should be jointly interrogated with scam kingpin Sudipta Sen and Ms. Banerjee to expose the real conspiracy behind the scam.
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“We should be interrogated together,” Mr Ghosh said while being taken out of the court. On a CBI plea, the court granted it his custody till September 12. Mr Ghosh did not move a bail petition during the hearing in the day.
He was arrested last November by West Bengal police. The journalist-turned politician, who was the head of the media wing of Saradha group, has repeatedly alleged the complicity of several of his party leaders in the scam. The Saradha group used to run a number of dailies and television channels before it went burst in April 2013.
Political parties in the Opposition have welcomed Mr. Ghosh remarks and said that Chief Minister should accept the challenge posed by the suspended MP. While State BJP president Rahul Sinha said Mr. Ghosh was a big player in the scam, Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said Mr. Ghosh could play the role of a catalyst in unravelling the truth behind the scam.
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The Trinamool Congress leadership lost no time in coming to the defence of the Chief Minister.
“Kunal Ghosh has been in jail for the past 10 to 11 months. Realising that he may receive a severe sentence for his deeds, Mr. Ghosh is trying to use Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s name as a futile attempt to save himself,” AITC secretary general and Education Minister Partha Chatterjee said.
The CBI and the Enforcement Directorate, another Central agency, is probing the scam. Last week, the alleged business links between Saradha group and IRCTC under Railway Ministry during Ms Banerjee term as Railway Minister came to fore, resulting in embarrassment of the ruling party.