Former Union minister held for Saradha scam

In a major development, the CBI arrested former Union minister and Congress leader Matang Sinh from here on Saturday for his role in the multi-crore Saradha chit fund scam. 

The premier probe agency is also expected to question Manoranjana, Sinh’s estranged wife. Sinh, a former MP from Assam, served as minister of state for Parliamentary Affairs in the P V Narasimha Rao government. 

“In the Saradha chit fund scam in West Bengal, ex-Union minister Matang Sinh has been arrested by the CBI on charges of criminal conspiracy, cheating and misappropriation of funds,” the CBI stated. Sinh was questioned for more than seven hours before he was arrested, senior CBI officials said. 

Sinh arrived at the CBI's regional office here for the first time to face questions about his business transactions with Saradha group chairman Sudipto Sen. He told reporters before entering the CBI office, “Getting into a business deal is not a crime. I didn't know Sudipto Sen.”

Sinh is among the three top Congress leaders who have been embroiled in the scam, including former state minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who was arrested last year, and Assam Congress president Anjan Dutta. In a letter to the CBI in April 2013, Sen said he paid Rs 42 crore and Rs 28 crore to the Sinh couple to set up media ventures in Assam jointly with Manoranjana’s GNN media company. 

Sen also claimed that Mano­ranjana had introduced him to senior counsel Nalini Chidambaram, wife of former Union minister P Chidam­baram, who was retained by Saradha group as their counsel for Rs 12 crore a year.  TMC jittery

Meanwhile, Trinamool Congress leader Mukul Roy is believed to have provided a list of party colleagues involved in the Saradha scam when the CBI questioned him on Friday.

Sources said the 40-page statement Roy gave could have included details of the roles played by party leaders, including the top leadership, in the multi-crore scam that came to light in 2013.  

The party is worried that Roy could have cut a deal with the probe agency and may turn approver. The CBI on Saturday conducted raids in 14 locations in Odisha in connection with a multi-crore chit fund scam in the state.
Sources said these 14 places include the offices of Micro Finance, one of the 40-odd state-based chit fund companies currently under the CBI scanner. 

The residences of the managing director of the company, Durga Prasad Mishra, and few of its other directors were also searched. Mishra is currently lodged at the Jharpada prison in Bhubaneswar.