Saradha companies- Group director arrested.... State seethes with Saradha discontent - Pressure piles on Trinamul

Glimpse of the unrest that has gripped the state.

TT, Kolkata: Manoj Kumar Nagel, a director with two Saradha companies

today became the first employee of the group to be arrested since the controversy came to light.

“Nagel, director of Saradha Realty India Private Limited, had been summoned to the detective department’s office at the Bidhannagar commissionerate for interrogation. We found his complicity in the company’s irregularities,” said Arnab Ghosh, deputy commissioner of police, Bidhannagar.

Nagel is a director also with Saradha Printing and Publication Pvt Ltd.

Nagel, who hails from Uttar Pradesh, was arrested on a complaint lodged on April 16 by theatre director Arpita Ghosh against Sudipto Sen, chairman and MD of the Saradha Group.

Arpita, former employee of the group’s channel Ekhon Samay, which did not go on air, alleged that the employees had not received their salaries for the past three months. “On April 14, he (Sen) sent an email informing us that the channel was shutting down,” said Ghosh, known to be close to Mamata Banerjee.

Employees of the channels Tara News and Tara Muzik and the newspaper Sakalbela too received similar mails and lodged complaints, Arnab Ghosh said. The group has been accused of diverting cash deducted from employees’ salaries for PF deposits.

State seethes with Saradha discontent  - Pressure piles on Trinamul
Trinamul headquarters in Topsia

What happened

They came in droves from the two 24-Parganas, Howrah and several other places and party general secretary Mukul Roy was forced to call some of them to a meeting.

The agents outside said they were being hounded by depositors and the depositors said they feared losing all that they had.

They came with the hope of some assurance from the Trinamul leadership, whose support for the group had prompted them to park their money with the firm.

Roy, known to smile his way through the toughest questions, snapped when journalists asked him about the swell of protesters outside the party headquarters. “Why are you asking me now? I have called a news conference at 4pm,” Roy said before driving away.

A group of five agents led by Biplab Mondal from Durgapur was called into the party headquarters around 1.30pm but came out two hours later without any assurances for the protesters.

Barasat, North 24-Parganas

What happened

About 1,000 people who had parked their money with Dey Group of Investment Company Ltd descended on the house of Ratan Biswas, a local Trinamul leader.

Biswas had told the depositors their money was safe during a protest two months ago. Today, too, Biswas tried to pacify the protesters when they arrived in front of his house.

The crowd then moved to the company office, which is also the home of the company’s owner. It was locked.

The mob stoned the building and broke the windowpanes. Then they returned to Biswas’s house. He had fled by then with his family. The windows of Biswas’s house were smashed too.

The depositors, mostly Barasat residents, alleged that Biswas and two other Trinamul leaders — Gobinda Pal and Milan Sardar — had helped the Dey Group flourish.

The protestors blocked NH34 for half an hour from 9am.

Contai, East Midnapore

What happened

About 1,000 people, including investors and other residents of the town, attacked the site of a proposed 19-storey Saradha apartment block at 7.30am. They ransacked 15 small temporary sheds, purportedly built for the labourers, and damaged the mixers and dumpers. The two security guards fled soon after the attack.

The mob took away the sheds’ aluminium roofs. Some were seen taking away the engines of the dumpers and even their tyres.

Behrampore, Murshidabad

What happened

The trouble began on Friday evening and peaked on Saturday. About 1,000 people ransacked the 2,000sqft Saradha office on the second floor of Sivam Hotel on KN Road near the bus stand.

People started arriving in small groups from different parts of the district from 9.30am. A few investors had gathered outside the office last evening and broken open its main gate. A bigger group came today and broke equipment and furniture.

The rampage continued for over an hour, barely 500 metres from Behrampore police station, but its personnel did not intervene.

Purulia

What happened

Anticipating demonstrations, the owner of a building that houses a Saradha office removed the board carrying the company’s name. Most of the investors could not locate the office. Fifty agents demonstrated near the building.

Ghatal, West Midnapore

What happened

Around 300 people stormed a Saradha office at Ghatal Bazaar. They ransacked the office and looted computers. The rampage continued for nearly an hour, but the police didn’t arrive.

Ranaghat and Karimpur, Nadia

What happened

Hundreds gathered in front of Saradha offices in various parts of the district. The biggest gathering was in front of the Dakshinpara office in Ranaghat, where the protesters demanded government intervention. Agents and depositors protested outside an office in Karimpur too.

Siliguri

What happened

Since morning, over 1,000 people from the plains and the hills assembled in front of the Saradha office on Sevoke Road.

“People are coming to my house and asking for money,” said Ayan Acharya, an agent from Binnaguri in Jalpaiguri.

Employees of the group said they were trying to pacify the investors. Around 2.30pm, some agents squatted on Sevoke Road. A group of 200 people headed for Vivekananda Bhavan on Hill Cart Road, where the office of the north Bengal development department is located. Minister Gautam Deb heads the department.

Balurghat, South Dinajpur

What happened

A group of investors and agents gathered in front of Saradha’s office in the heart of the town. They enquired about the employees, but none of them could be traced. The office was under lock and key.

Durgapur, Burdwan

What happened

Many agents of the Saradha Group assembled outside the company office at 11am and started sloganeering.

Asansol, Burdwan

What happened

Agents demonstrated outside the company office and later lodged a complaint with the subdivisional officer. They demanded government intervention to get the money back.