Kolkata: Manoj Nagel, the first to be arrested in the multi-crore Saradha chit fund scam, on Saturday came out with an explosive allegation that left the political circles in West Bengal thunderstruck. As per Nagel’s allegations, Mukul Roy, the public accounts committee of the West Bengal assembly, by virtue of being a BJP legislator officially, forcefully extorted a massive amount of Rs 80 crore from Sudipto Sen, the founder and head of the dubious Saradha Group. Though still officially a BJP legislator as per assembly records, Roy, along with his son Suvrangshu Roy joined Trinamool Congress soon after the 2021 West Bengal assembly election results were announced.
“Mukul Roy was the only person Sudipto Sen used to address as Sir. One day, Roy forcefully extorted Sen of Rs 80 crore,” Nagel has alleged. He also questioned how Roy is moving freely outside the prisons after extorting crores of rupees from Saradha Group. “I was the first person to be arrested in the Saradha case. I went to the residence of the chief minister, Mamata Banerjee. I was asked to meet Mukul Roy. Former Kolkata police commissioner, Rajive Kumar, summoned and arrested me. I am raising these allegations only after the state assembly elections are over. Otherwise, some people could have said that my statements were politically motivated,” Nagel said.
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Nagel, one of the directors of Saradha Group, was arrested on April 19, 2013. Soon after that Sudipto Sen and his close associate Debjani Mukherjee were arrested from Kashmir. “Sudipto Sen told me that he went to Delhi by carrying Rs 80 crore in his personal vehicle. Sen also told me that the entire amount was forcefully extorted by Mukul Roy. I have informed this to the CBI officers. But still Mukul Roy is moving around freely. If necessary I will give a confidential statement to the court. But my request is that whoever gives a statement in this matter should be provided with adequate security. The Saradha case must come to an end now,” he said.
He also said the forcefully extorted amount of Rs 80 crore is an event of just a day. “Who knows how much Mukul Roy has extorted throughout the year. He is moving around freely as the owner of crores of rupees, whereas I am exhausted of my last penny. There should be a proper investigation in this matter,” Nagel said. ETV Bharat first contacted Trinamool Congress’s Lok Sabha member Saugata Roy for his comments. But he refused to make any comment on this issue. Then ETV Bharat contacted Trinamool’s state general secretary and the party’s spokesman, Kunal Ghosh. “The matter is in the court now and hence it will not be proper on my part to make any comment on this issue,” he said.
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Launching a scathing attack against Mukul Roy, BJP’s state general secretary, Sayantan Basu said that there is nothing to be surprised about this allegation against Roy. “Mukul Roy neither has credibility nor any acceptability. He joined BJP just as a spy of Trinamool Congress. He was the original manager of the huge unaccounted money of Trinamool Congress. Not just Saradha. He is accused of involvement in many such scams,” said Basu. Whether Nagle’s allegations are true are yet to be testified. But the allegations have put Mukul Roy and Trinamool Congress in a state of embarrassment.
