Kolkata: A 50-year-old woman, who had deposited money in chit fund company Saradha Group, on Sunday succumbed to her injuries after she set herself on fire, while a man tried to poison himself, even as political parties traded charges over the scandal. Urmila Pramanik, a resident of Baruipur in South-24 Parganas district, who had invested Rs 30,000 with the chit fund company, set herself on fire on Saturday evening at her home after coming to know that the company had gone bust.
She was taken to Baruipur sub-divisional hospital with serious burns and later shifted to Chittaranjan Hospital in Kolkata where she died on Sunday. Lakshman Ghorui of Diamond Harbour consumed poison, but his condition was stable, police said. With charges and counter charges flying thick and fast over the scam, Trinamool Congress said West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her party had no link with chit fund company Saradha Group even as CPI-M demanded a CBI probe into the scandal and rubbished claim that such firms had mushroomed during the Left Front rule.
"The Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress have no link with Saradha Group. All allegations are baseless," Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha MP Kunal Ghosh said. Ghosh, who was the CEO of the media unit of group, which has closed shop failing to repay hundreds of depositors' money, said, "I was a salaried journalist of the group's media unit. When Saradha ventured into media business, I was not there. I only joined the media unit after the tie-up between Bengali daily 'Sambad Pratidin' and Saradha, not as an MP, but as a professional journalist."
Ghosh, who earlier worked as a journalist in Sambad Pratidin said, Saradha Group started its operation during the previous government. "There is no question of TMC patronizing the Saradha Group," he said. After the chit fund company went bust, the state government ordered arrest of its chairman and managing director Sudipta Sen, who is absconding. Hundreds of depositors had laid siege to Mamata Banerjee's residence on Friday demanding return of the money invested with the group. Protests by depositors were also reported from the districts.
Brushing aside TMC allegations that the businesses of chit funds had mushroomed during the Left Front regime, former state Finance Minister Asim Dasgupta sought Centre's intervention in the chit funds scandal and, if necessary, ask the CBI to investigate the matter. "Why did this Trinamool Congress regime not take any action against these chit funds? Why did they take so long to issue arrest warrant against the director of Saradha Group? The government should have taken strong steps against it," Dasgupta said.
The CPI(M) leader said that his government had taken strong steps against chit fund companies in the early 90s and had also passed a bill in the state Assembly, which was later sent to the President for approval. Trinamool Congress general secretary Mukul Roy, meanwhile, threatened to file a defamation suit against CPI-M leaders for alleging that he had received crores of rupees from absconding Saradha Group chairman Sudipta Sen.
"These are baseless allegations. I will file a defamation suit against them (CPI-M leaders)," Roy said, adding that the erstwhile Left regime had allowed chit funds to mushroom in West Bengal while the Centre remained a mute spectator when these fraudulent companies fleeced people. Describing the chit fund scandal as a matter of serious concern, AICC general secretary Digvijay Singh said the state government cannot absolve its responsibility in the matter.
"Its a matter of serious concern. Lakhs of people are on the verge of losing their lifetime's earning. The primary duty is now to save the investors," Singh said. Replying to the state government's charge of the Centre's inaction on the issue, Singh said the state government cannot shirk its responsibility. "Only the registration of the company was done under the jurisdiction of the Centre. The state government also had a role. Registration was done on the basis of clearance by the state government," Singh said.
Roy, however, said, "The Congress should not talk much. What were the central government-regulated organisations like SEBI and RBI doing when these firms were operating? If everything comes into the open, big shots of Congress will be unmasked." He said the state government would consult the Centre on bringing an ordinance to take over property of Saradha Group.
"A lot of things are being said about the property (of Saradha Group). The state government after consulting the Union government can bring an ordinance to take over the group's property," Roy said. The Chief Minister would hold a meeting tomorrow to on the issue, Roy added.
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