Saradha scam: ED quizzes Trinamool RS member

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) today grilled Trinamool Congress MP Ahamed Hassan for around seven hours in connection with its money laundering probe in the multi-crore Saradha chitfund scam case. PTI file photo

Within days of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) making its first arrest in the multi-crore Saradha chit fund scam case, the Enforcement Directory (ED) on Monday quizzed Trinamool Congress MP Ahmed Hassan Imran. 

According to sources, the probe agency questioned the Trinamool Rajya Sabha MP in connection with Saradha’s purported money laundering operations.

Officials said that Imran reached the agency’s office at the satellite township of Salt Lake in Kolkata’s eastern parts in the late morning and was questioned for more than four hours.

Sources said the ED wanted to question Imran as he was the executive editor of Bengali publication Kalam, which Sudipto Sen owned as part of Saradha’s media ventures but later sold to another business group.

ED officers are keen to know the details of Imran’s income and other interests he had while working for the publication. “The agency confronted Imran with some documents seized during raids in the case few days back,” an official said.

Sources also said several political leaders, Members of Parliament and businessmen from other parts of the country will be questioned to find out the extent of their help to the Saradha Chairman and Managing Director in the multi-crore scam. 

The chit fund collected crores of rupees from the public in the name of non-banking savings. 

The ED has so far interrogated Trinamool MPs Mithun Chakraborty and Kunal Ghosh, who is also behind the bars under several charges related to the case, besides national award winning film maker Aparna Sen, state textile minister Shyamapada Mukherjee and retired IPS officer Rajat Majumdar.