The Ponzi Govt of West Bengal

Politicians give birth to goons and criminals, nurture them, exploit them and when job done – finish them. This is a well-established process of conducting the business of politics in India. This “art” of keeping goons and criminals as “pets” infected Indian politics since the dark days of Mrs Indira Gandhi. Subsequently this “art” of petting goons and criminals have evolved to a “fine art” under present day politicians. Mr SharadPawar, Mr Karunanidhi, Mr Lalu Prasad, Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav, ….have actually perfected this fine art of running the “show” through the art of deploying “pet” goons and criminals.

However in Bengal, sadly, the situation is different.

Every child in Bengal today have heard the Ponzi schemes of Saradha. With each day passing, the deep connection of the top-brass of ruling Trinamool Congress is getting exposed – thanks to investigation by the CBI. But this may only be the tip of the iceberg in terms of fraud and deceit of the ruling partyhave unleashed on the poor people of Bengal.

Below are just 2 demonstrating of the mammoth loot and deceit the TMC-run Govt of West Bengal have unleashed on the poorer section of Bengal society :

A)     The KD Singh – Alchemist Fraud :

Kanwar Deep Singh, Current RS MP from TMC. Entered RS thru JMM in 2010. Switched over to TMC few months later.

•       Owns majority stake in Anant Media Private Limited, which publishes “Tahelka” magazine •       In February 2009, IT raided at 11 premises of the Alchemist Group across India. He surrendered an unaccounted income of Rs.22 crores •       KD Singh was intercepted on March 2011 at IGI Airport, Delhi by airport security for carrying a "large sum of cash" on a flight to poll-bound Assam •       In 2012, the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO)  initiated investigation against the group after Registrar of Companies (ROC) noted that one of its outfits had raised money from the public by offering various investments it probably could not honour •       In May 2013, three  'group' companies were under the corporate affairs ministry's scanner for their fund-raising activities, which allegedly ranged from accepting deposits against fictitious property certificates to issuing preference shares to investors without the regulator's approval •       The company and its five directors have been barred from the securities market till the time all its schemes are wound up and the money is refunded to investors •       On June 21, 2013, Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) ordered Alchemist Infra Realty Limited to shut down its "collective investment scheme.“ •       By that time – over Rs.1000 Crores were collected across India in during previous 5 years from small investors •       WB Assembly Leader of Opposition Mr Surjya Kant Mishra alleged in a letter to the chief secretary of West Bengal that Ms Mamata Banerjee had travelled with KD Singh and one other businessman on a chartered plane, numbered N218 ‘KD’, in early April 2013. •       It was also alleged that Ms Mamata Banerjee and her Team of crooks were trying to get K D Singh to help Saradha (manage Saradha mess)

B)     Master Killer : Saradha Fraud :

·         Amount involved: over Rs.4,000 Crores (so-far). Its understood that this figure is just the tip of the iceberg

·         Suicides reported so far : over 100

·         Estimated number of families cheated : over 15 Lakhs

·         Exact Nature of Business: Not Clear. Invested in high visibility sectors such as : Film Industry, Media House, etc, such as : Bengal Post, Seven Sisters Post (English dailies), Kalom (Bengali daily), PrabhatVarta (Hindi daily),AjirDainikBaturi (Assamese daily),Sakalbela, Azad Hindand Parama (Bengali dailies). It also owned two Bengali news channels (Tara Newz and Channel 10), two Bengali general entertainment channels (Tara Muzic and Tara Bangla) and one FM radio station.

ü  Needless to mention - these channels were channelized to canvass for Ms Mamata Banerjee / Trinamool Congress during previous Assembly elections.

·         Purchased many heavily indebted companies such as Global Automobiles to front the latest version of its Ponzi scheme

·         On August 17, 2014, CBI raided 65 spots

·         Fraud / Money Laundering not only restricted to West Bengal but also in Assam, Odhisa and few other States. It is reported that the Health and Education Minister of Assam, HimantaBiswaSarma, may have profited personally from the Ponzi scheme. Also Sudipto Sen had claimed of paying Rs 250 million to Manoranjana Singh, wife of former Congress Member of Parliament from Assam and Union Cabinet minister Matang Singh, Rs 30 million to her father K N Gupta to buy shares in a TV channel, allegedly at an inflated price

·         High profile elements connected/ arrested (so far)/being Investigated/Interrogated by various agencies (CBI, ED, etc) :

ü  Sudipto Sen

ü  Kunal Ghosh  : Member of Parliament – Trinamool Congress

ü  Satabdi Roy : Member of Parliament – Trinamool Congress

ü  Mithun Chakraborty : Member of Parliament – Trinamool Congress

ü  Srinjoy Bose : Member of Parliament – Trinamool Congress

ü  Aparna Sen (Film personality)

ü  DebabrataSarkar : Official – East Bengal Football Club. Officials of rival MohunBagan Football club are also in the radar of investigating agencies

ü  Shyamapada Mukherjee :Minsiter- Govt of West Bengal, etc.

(While the list is MUCH bigger, the writer prefers to stop here. The idea is to show the extent of Saradha entwined with Trinamool Congress. The writer is also not highlighting the other frauds perpetrated by Rose Valley, etc, due to paucity of space).

The million dollar questions is : where is the money going ? If you go by the latest revelations: it is really scary !

Investigating agencies CBI and Enforcement Directorate have stumbled upon sensational information that suggests large amounts of cash were sent to Bangladesh through an influential politician, who is now a Rajya Sabha MP ! The CBI contacted various agencies of the Ministry of Home Affairs as well as the Ministry of External Affairs and learnt that several dossiers have existed for decades about the MP with the home department of the state government. All these agencies were aware of the MP’s antecedents and links with various Islamic fundamentalist organisations including SIMI, of which he was a key member.

The CBI and ED learnt that funds collected from the public through Saradha’s chit fund schemes were centrally deposited at the group’s offices in Salt Lake. After being accounted for, hundreds of crores were transported to various centres close to the Indo-Bangladesh border. The cash was put in huge bags and taken by ambulances belonging to the Saradha group. The Indian currency was then secretly converted to Bangladeshi Taka and European currencies at a “Foreign Currency Convertor Centre” belonging to a man from Kolkata. Armed couriers of radical Islamic outfits would then smuggle the converted currency across the border under the cover of darkness.

The deal was that Sen would finance these radical outfits, mainly the Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh, but separately large amount of his funds would also be delivered to designated places in Bangladesh. The leaders of these outfits had to arrange for Sen’s funds to be sent to banks in Europe through their couriers. The sleuths believe that thousands of crores collected from Indian citizens by the Saradha group had reached these “anti-India radical Islamic groups in Bangladesh” and also to several terrorist outfits of the country who were earlier operating in Bangladesh.

Former Special Director, Intelligence Bureau said, “We all know who this man is. It is unfortunate that West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee sent Ahmed Hassan alias Imran to the Rajya Sabha despite knowing his antecedents. When SIMI was banned in 2001, Mamata Banerjee was a Union minister and she should have known about its leader’s activities in West Bengal. What is of serious concern to us is the planned infiltration of the known subversive elements into the most sacred and highest corridors of power,” he said.

It is well known that Hassan during his days at Aligarh Muslim University came in touch with SIMI and was given charge of West Bengal and he was also Amir-e-Halka for Jamaat-e-Islami Hind for eastern region of the country. In 1981, Ahmed Hassan started a Bengali magazine Kalam from 19, Dargah Road but later in 1998 shifted to another address on 45, Elliot Road. The Dargah Road office then became a guest house for SIMI. Intelligence agencies have reports of SIMI’s link with Islamic Development Bank, which is headquartered in Abu Dhabi.

There are reports that Ahmed Hassan was the key man for IDB in eastern India while managing director of IDB, Mamul Al-Azam, son of president of Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh, GolamAzam, is his close friend. After turning Kalam into a daily and having come in contact with Sen, he sold the newspaper to the Saradha group, but remained editor. Hassan was introduced to Sen by Kunal Ghosh, who was a journalist and media advisor to the Saradha group.

These are coming out DESPITE for months, the “gobment” of West Bengal through Police and other elements of the ruling party were busy destroying all possible evidences of the scam – right from the diary of kingpin Sudipto Sen (which contains the details of “payments” made by him to Leaders, CDs containing details of funds collected/deployed, …..)

Now it’s up to the brilliance of Central Bureau of Investigation and Enforcement Directorate to bring out the ACTUAL MASTERMINDS of the mammoth fraud – which sucked out blood, sweat and tears of out millions in West Bengal and used the funds for anti-National activities.

The punishment should be such that it acts as a deterrent for decades to come.