A protest against Saradha Group.
A public interest litigation has been filed in the Calcutta High Court for a CBI inquiry against the Saradha Group, a chit fund company that went bust leaving lakhs of depositors in a fix.
The petition urges the court to appoint a receiver to seize properties of chit fund companies to auction them and pay back depositors.
Over the last few days, several of Saradha Group's 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.
The Mamata Banerjee government may bring an ordinance to tackle the chit fund disaster unfolding in her state. A high-level meeting, led by Ms Banerjee, is expected today.
The scam has cost at least one life - a 50-year-old woman, who had deposited Rs 30,000 with the Saradha Group, set herself on fire yesterday.
The state government has ordered the arrest of Saradha Group Chairman and Managing Director Sudipto Sen, who is on the run. A director of the group has been arrested.
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. They say they put their money and faith in Saradha because Trinamool leaders seemed close to the group.
"The journalist-cum-MP Kunal Ghosh must be arrested. The chief minister has ordered the arrest of Sudipto Sen. Kunal Ghosh also must be arrested," said Uttam Mahapatra, a Saradha agent. Mr Ghosh was the Group CEO of Saradha's media interests.
The Trinamool Congress, denying links with Saradha, accused the Left government of letting chit funds mushroom.
The Left denies any responsibility and is asking why the Mamata government failed to arrest Sudipto Sen.