Kolkata:
A Kolkata court today sent
Sudipta Sen and two directors in his Saradha group, Debjani Mukhopadhyay and Arvind Singh Chauhan to 14 days in police custody. Mr Sen is the millionaire whose chit fund went bust last week, leaving thousands of small investors across Bengal bankrupt.
This morning, when Mr Sen and others were brought to court, protesters, some of them weeping, chanted slogans in anger. Groups of Congress workers broke past police lines of security and rushed into court. Cops used batons on them.
Mr Sen was arrested on Tuesday in Kashmir after being on the run for nearly a week. (
Sudipta Sen: how he was traced and caught) While he was underground, he sent a letter to the CBI, listing 22 politicians and influential people of "misusing" him to make money. Included on the list are senior and national-level leaders. (
Read: 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. Their boss and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has denied that her party had links to Mr Sen. (
Read: How Saradha duped its investors)
On Monday, she had refused a bailout for those who were conned by Mr Sen's scheme, stating "What is gone is gone." But yesterday she announced a 500-crore relief fund, part of which she said will be funded partly by new taxes on cigarettes. Her detractors want to know why tax-payers should compensate for Mr Sen's scam.