Suspended Trinamool Congress MP Kunal Ghosh
Suspended Trinamool Congress MP Kunal Ghosh, behind bars in connection with the Saradha chit fund scam, has released a video statement in which he alleges that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was aware of the company's irregular financial operations.
"It is very, very painful to me to write down this name. I love her. I respect her. I am grateful to her. I am not taking her name. But what the people believe, the facts are completely opposite. And these facts are much more dangerous for people, which they have to realize after a few years," the MP said.
Mr Ghosh was the Group CEO of Saradha's media empire - a collection of newspapers, magazines and TV channels which were forced to close after the group went bust in April this year. Scores of journalists were left jobless and he was arrested on Saturday on charges of cheating, breach of trust and criminal conspiracy.
He said on video that Ms Banerjee was not just aware of his assignment with the Saradha group but also that their party, the Trinamool Congress, benefited from that association. "If we showed or wrote something out of line, there would immediately be phone calls - 'what is this, change that'. I have even had to change the editorial of my paper. Our hands were tied," he said.
Hours after his arrest Mr Ghosh had in a Facebook post named 12 people, including Ms Banerjee, who he said could help the police unravel the Saradha scam. At a press conference a day before, he had broken down and said he was being made a scapegoat. He also said that if he were arrested, he would "reveal names".
In his video statement, apparently recorded before his arrest, Mr Ghosh has also named senior MPs Mukul Roy, KD Singh and Srinjoy Bose.
Trinamool leaders have refused to react to Mr Ghosh's statement and say the party is weighing legal options.
Opposition parties - the Congress and the CPM - have demanded a CBI probe.