Kolkata:
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has blamed the Centre and the Left government that preceded hers for a chit fund scam that has left lakhs of poor depositors in the lurch in her state. The opposition has alleged that Ms Banerjee's Trinamool Congress has close links with Sudipto Sen, the owner of the Saradha group, the chit fund company which went bust last week.
Here are the top 10 developments in the story:
Ms Banerjee argued today that chit funds are controlled by the Centre, which she said had failed to ensure a law that adequately protects investors. She said her government wants to bring an Ordinance to protect investors, but she would need the Centre to first withdraw the current law.
Ms Banerjee said as soon as the market regulator, Securities and Exchange Board of India or SEBI, had "informed us about one organisation... we asked the Centre to return the current law."
Kunal Ghosh, a Rajya Sabha MP of Ms Banerjee's Trinamool Congress, who also heads the Saradha Group's media division, said today that he was only a "salaried employee" and knew nothing about the chit fund. He also said Ms Banerjee or the Trinamool had no links with the Saradha group or its Chairman and Managing Director, Sudipto Sen, who is on the run.
The state government has ordered the arrest of Mr Sen. The Left and other parties have accused the Mamata Banerjee government of allowing him to escape. A director of the group has been arrested.
Ms Banerjee today accused the Left, which ruled Bengal for 33 years before she vanquished it in last year's Assembly elections, for allowing dubious chit funds to flourish since the 1980s in West Bengal. Senior CPM leader Sitaram Yechury countered her and said, "The Left government in West Bengal had enacted a law to protect small investors. But the bill didn't get presidential assent. The bill was revised in 2009 by the Left government. Even then the President didn't give assent."
Over the last few days, several Saradha group offices across West Bengal have shut down and many of its cheques have bounced. With a huge default in repayments, the group is on the verge of collapse.
A 50-year-old woman who had deposited Rs. 30,000 with the company set herself on fire yesterday.
Thousands of agents and depositors have been gathering everyday Saradha group offices every day and have even ransacked them in some places. Many have also crowded Trinamool party offices to demand that their money be returned.
A public interest litigation has been filed in the Calcutta High Court for a CBI inquiry against the Saradha Group. The petition urges the court to appoint a receiver to seize properties of chit fund companies to auction them and pay back depositors.
The Saradha Group had promised abnormally high returns on deposits. Now that it has gone bust, lakhs of depositors and fund collection agents are wondering if they will ever get their money back.
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