Bengal Textile Minister SP Mukherjee leaving the CBI office after questioning in the Saradha scam
A Bengal minister was today questioned in connection with the Saradha chit fund scam but another missed his date with the CBI saying he was in hospital. This is the first time ministers have been questioned in the scandal that has greatly embarrassed the government of Mamata Banerjee.
Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, the textile minister, was questioned at the CBI office. "I was called to submit papers, they asked me some questions. I answered properly," Mr Mukherjee said. Asked whether he was concerned about the embarrassment to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, he said, "Asked Mamata Banerjee."
Another Trinamool Congress leader, parliamentarian Srinjoy Bose, was also questioned.
Madan Mitra, the transport minister, reportedly informed the CBI that he could come only when he was out of hospital.
Mr Mitra spent four days at a private nursing home and on Thursday, switched to a government hospital. He received the CBI's summons on Tuesday.
He walked out of the nursing home yesterday after signing a discharge under risk bond and checked into the government-run SSKM hospital.
Mr Mitra is known to be close to jailed Saradha Group chairman Sudipta Sen. He has been seen in video clips praising Mr Sen at a meeting of Saradha agents.
The Saradha Group operated a Ponzi scheme offering massive returns of 40 per cent and more until it collapsed last year, leaving lakhs of small investors bankrupt in West Bengal and Odisha.
Last week, suspended Trinamool MP Kunal Ghosh allegedly overdosed on sleeping pills in jail, in what the police said was a suicide attempt. Mr Ghosh had threatened in court that he would take his own life if the "real beneficiaries" of the chit fund scam were not arrested. He has alleged that top leaders of his party are being shielded.
The CBI, which is investigating the scam in both states, has filed two chargesheets in the case.