CBI mes Matang Sinh in charge sheet

SARADHA SCAM

KOLKATA, April 17: The Central Bureau of Investigation on Friday filed a charge sheet ming former union minister Matang Sinh and four of his companies in connection with various offences in the multi-crore-rupee Saradha scam.

In a supplementary charge sheet filed in a court here, the CBI also med Shibrayan Das — an advisor of Saradha chief and scam kingpin Sudipta Sen.

"Sinh and his 4 companies — NE multimedia, NE Television, Positive Radio and Impulse Production — have been charged under various sections including cheating and conspiracy," a CBI officer said. "Shibrayan Das, one of the origil conspirators, has also been charged with crimil conspiracy, cheating, crimil breach of trust by public servant under the Prize Chits & Money Circulation (Banning) Act," added the officer.

Sinh, a former minister of state for parliamentary affairs in the PV rasimha Rao government (1991-96), was arrested on January 31 by the CBI.

Sudipta Sen, now behind bars, in a letter to the CBI, had accused Sinh of cheating him of Rs 28 crore.

Sen had also accused Sinh's wife Manoranja of duping him of Rs 25 crore in return for some shares in a TV channel owned by her.

The CBI had earlier grilled Manoranja besides attaching Sinh's properties, and raiding his offices and residences.

Shibrayan Das, said to have convinced Sen to launch the ponzi schemes, was arrested by the CBI on January 17.

Meanwhile, the Calcutta High Court on Friday directed the Mamata Banerjee government to file an affidavit stating the money spent by the Justice Shyamal Kumar Sen Commission set up to probe the Saradha scam. The commission headed by Sen - a former chief justice of Allahabad High Court - was set up by the Banerjee government in 2013 to indemnify the depositors and to identify those involved in scam. The panel set up with a corpus of Rs 500 crore and was wound up in October 2014. IANS