Former Trinamool Congress MP Kunal Ghosh was arrested last year on charges of conspiracy.
Suspended Trinamool Congress MP Kunal Ghosh, who had earlier accused West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of involvement in the Saradha Ponzi scam, has done it again - this time in public.
"If anyone has directly or indirectly benefitted from Saradha media, it is Mamata Banerjee," Mr Ghosh shouted at the assembled reporters today while being hustled into the offices of the Central Bureau of Investigation in Kolkata for questioning.
One of the main accused in the multi-crore scam, Mr Ghosh was being taken to the CBI office after an appearance at a city court. He had asked the judge that he be taken into CBI custody and interrogated along with Saradha promoter and alleged scam kingpin Sudipta Sen, and the Chief Minister.
Mr Ghosh had been arrested in November 2013 on charges of conspiracy. From behind the bars, he had repeatedly accused Ms Banerjee and her senior party leaders of being in the know about the scam. Thereafter, he was promptly suspended by the party.
The scandal had come to light in April 2013, when the company closed shop across Bengal, unable to pay back depositors -- mainly poor people in small towns and villages -- who had parked their life's savings with the group, lured by the promise of huge returns.
Today, the CBI told the court that the group had collected Rs 1,259 crore from the market. Of this, Rs 988 crore had been invested in Bengal Media, a fully-owned Saradha Group company, of which Ghosh was the Chief Executive Officer.