Rs 30 lakh missing from Manna Dey's account

Even as legendary playback singer Manna Dey fights for his life, his family has become embroiled in a controversy over siphoning off lakhs of rupees from a bank account belonging to him in Kolkata.

The incident came to light after Dey’s daughter Sumita and her husband, Jnanranjan Deb, wrote to the Kolkata Police accusing his nephew Tarrit of siphoning off around Rs 30 lakh. The letter also accused Tarrit of appropriating a significant cache of gold ornaments belonging to the singer’s deceased wife, Sulochana. Tarrit is alleged to have also removed a number of expensive wristwatches, kept in a locker attached to the bank account.

The playback legend, who is fond of wristwatches, would buy expensive ones by various global brands whenever he went abroad for shows, most of which were kept in the locker.

The account, held jointly by Dey and his nephew, was with a leading nationalised bank’s branch in north Kolkata, close to Dey’s ancestral house. 

Writing to Kolkata Police from Bangalore on Friday, Dey’s daughter Sumita has pointed out that since her father lives in Bangalore and his advanced age does not allow him to travel a lot, Tarrit was the one who handled the account.

“He took the opportunity of my father’s absence to siphon off all the money and my mother’s jewellery from the account,” she alleged, further accusing that all the contents of the account and the locker had been shifted to another branch of the same bank close by, where Tarrit and his wife, Arpita, hold accounts.

Even though the legendary singer moved in with his daughter and son-in-law in Bangalore a few years ago, he did not close the account in good faith.

Dey fell severely ill around a month ago and had to be admitted to the ICCU of a leading private hospital in Bangalore. With the hospital expenses mounting over the last two months or so, Sumita and her husband started gathering money and asked Tarrit to send some from the account in Kolkata, which, they believed had around Rs 30 lakh in it.

Tarrit, however, kept dragging his feet, according to Sumita and Jnanranjan. “When he kept on stalling and did not send any money, we were forced to write to the police in Kolkata asking for assistance,” Sumita told reporters.

While neither Tarrit nor any members of his family could be contacted despite repeated attempts, Sandip Dey, a member of his extended family, told a Kolkata daily that Tarrit was unwell after hearing the allegations and is not in a condition to talk to anybody. “That particular account never had that kind of money, but if asked, Tarrit will be able to provide details of whatever money has been spent from there,” he said.
He also pointed out that since the account is held jointly by the singer and his nephew, the validity of such allegations from anybody else is questionable.