Kolkata:
Mamata Banerjee announced a Rs 500 crore fund yesterday to refund the poorest among lakhs of depositors who have lost their savings in the Saradha chit fund collapse. The Chief Minister was apologetic as she announced a 10 per cent additional tax on cigarettes, suggesting, with the hint of a smile, that people could smoke more for a few days to help raise the money sooner. (
Watch video here)
The cigarette tax, Ms Banerjee said, would raise about Rs 150 crore for the fund. "We will tap other sources to get the rest of the amount...This will help the common people who are now in distress," she said, denying that her party, the Trinamool Congress, encouraged or exploited
Sudipta Sen, the man who ran the chit fund scheme that went bust in West Bengal last week. (
Chit fund scam: How Saradha duped its investors)
"The Government is not involved in it, this is totally private...the government is only stepping in because it has a responsibility to the people," she said, promising that the guilty, whoever they were, would be punished.
Her detractors have slammed the move asking why the tax payer should pay for the fraud and not Saradha group boss Sudipta Sen, who was produced in a Kolkata court this morning. (
Read: How Sudipta Sen was traced and caught)
Mr Sen, who had been missing for more than a week, was arrested in Kashmir on Monday and was brought to Kolkata late last night. While he was on the run, he sent a letter to the CBI accusing 22 politicians and influential people, whose names he listed, of "misusing" him to make money. Included on the list are senior and national-level leaders. (
Chit fund chief's letter-bomb lists national leaders, Mamata's MPs)He accused two Trinamool MPs, Kunal Ghosh and Srinjoy Bose, of exploiting him financially. Both have denied the charges.
Ms Banerjee has set up a commission headed by a retired High Court judge which will study applications for refund of money and ensure that the Rs 500 crore funds is spent to help the poorest of Saradha's investors.