Ex-aides of CPM leaders grilled

OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

Calcutta, May 2: A former aide to Asim Dasgupta and a former official of a corporation chaired by Gautam Deb, the CPM leaders spearheading the Left attack on Trinamul over the Saradha scandal, were questioned for hours yesterday by investigators. Ganesh Dey, a former confidential assistant to Dasgupta when he was finance minister, and Anjan Bhattacharya, a former public relations officer of Hidco that was once headed by Deb, were interrogated at the Salt Lake office of the Bidhannagar commissionerate for over four hours. The interrogation followed the questioning of Trinamul MP Kunal Ghosh, who was quizzed for his link with the Saradha Group, where he had worked as executive chairman, media, till he resigned last month. Officers said Ganesh and Anjan could be asked to come for interrogation again. Deb dissociated himself from Anjan, saying he had "nothing to do" with the former PRO's "shady affairs". "He was just a PRO with Hidco and the police are free to find out everything about him." Dasgupta refused comment. Sources said Ganesh was a party nominee and Dasgupta did not allocate any government-related work to him when he was minister. A section of CPM leaders said dragging Dasgupta and Deb into the controversy by grilling their acquaintances was a well-orchestrated effort to divert attention from the suffering of lakhs who have lost their life's savings. "This is a last-ditch desperate attempt by Trinamul to divert people's attention at a time there is a strong clamour that the investigation of the default crisis be handed over to the CBI," said CPM leader Rabin Deb. Investigators, however, said Saradha boss Sudipta Sen had mentioned the names of Ganesh and Anjan during interrogations. Sen apparently told the interrogators that Anjan used to receive a monthly salary of Rs 1.2 lakh from Saradha even though he worked for Hidco. "Sen told us that Anjan was given a small cubicle to himself at Saradha's Salt Lake office. Anjan used to go there but did nothing much," said an officer. "Preliminarily, it appears that Anjan had received the salary for five months from April 2011. When we confronted him, Anjan first told us that he used to supply flowers in bulk to the group and received payment for that. But later he broke down." Ganesh, the interrogators said, was grilled to find out whether he had any role in influencing the finance department brass to ensure that Saradha didn't come under the scanner. "It appears he was aware of Saradha's functioning," said a senior officer. Today, the police interrogated Poulomi Sen, secretary to the Saradha Group's board of directors. http://www.telegraphindia.com/1130503/jsp/bengal/story_16853282.jsp#.UYPMMKKBlA0