First serving minister to be arrested... CHEHARAGULO DEKHLEI BHOY KORE: TRULY SPOKEN, CM

Chief minister Mamata Banerjee declares at Nabanna on Friday evening that “you 
cannot bring police from Delhi and indulge in goondaism. Chehara guloi gundar moto… 
cheharagulo dekhlei bhoy kore (their appearances are like those of goondas… One 
feels scared when one looks at them)”. Picture by Pradip Sanyal

Mamata: They arrested him on a Friday because courts will be closed on Saturday and Sunday

Not to forget: The CBI had asked Madan to appear on Thursday. Friday was Madan’s choice. Madan will be produced in court on Saturday. Irrespective of day of arrest, a person has to be produced before a magistrate within 24 hours for further detention

Mamata: He will be produced in a CBI court…. CBI court toh dhamadhara (loosely translated as ‘underling or ‘minion’ and, in this context, ‘unable to act independently’)

Not to forget: The judges in the CBI courts are appointed by the state government. To cast aspersions on the judiciary can invite contempt even if the chief minister does so

Mamata: Has Madan done anything after Saradha was declared a chit fund company?

Not to forget: The suggestion appears to be an indirect admission that Madan had associated himself with the company until “it was declared a chit fund company”. Saradha has never been declared a chit fund company 

— because it was never a chit fund. It was a deposit mobilisation company whose collections grew in tandem with the surge in Trinamul’s political fortunes. Saradha’s political godfathers distanced themselves from the company only after the scandal broke and Sudipta Sen fled

Mamata: If I arrest central ministers on one charge or the other, will it be good for democracy?

Not to forget: If central ministers — or anyone for that matter — break the law, it is not up to the chief minister to decide whether to arrest them or not. If the crime warrants arrest, the law of the land has provisions to carry out the arrest. Contrary to what Trinamul leaders have been saying, a minister can be arrested without informing the Speaker in advance. The Speaker needs to be informed but after the arrest.

TT, Calcutta, Dec. 12: Madan Mitra this afternoon became the first serving minister in Bengal to be arrested, an expected event freighted with the spectre of unexpected consequences.

The arrest of the street-savvy politician in the Saradha case also served to retrace the perilous path Trinamul chose since riding to power on the sole but sledge-hammer strength of a leader who was toasted all across the country as the symbol of honesty.

Mitra, the state transport and sports minister, was arrested by the CBI after he was questioned for nearly five hours.

Madan Mitra after his arrest. (Mayukh Sengupta)

The swoop clocked another first: no politician had been arrested earlier in the Saradha case on the very first day of interrogation. But unlike the others, Mitra's hospital-hopping had given the CBI enough time to prepare itself.

The minister has been slapped with charges linked to cheating, criminal conspiracy, misappropriation and "deriving undue financial benefits from the Saradha Group".

Chief minister Mamata Banerjee called the arrest a political conspiracy by the BJP against her government. Mitra will continue to be a minister as Mamata has refused to accept his resignation. She has announced plans for an agitation from tomorrow.

Mamata's fusillade from Nabanna, the state secretariat, prompted the BJP to coin the term "Nibor Dooh" - a reverse play on Robin Hood. The Left will hit the streets tomorrow to demand Mamata's interrogation.

Mitra has been arrested in connection with a Saradha Realty case. The CBI also arrested Naresh Balodia, Saradha boss Sudipta Sen's legal adviser, on the charges of criminal conspiracy, cheating and diversion of funds.

"There are reasons to believe that Mitra was involved with Sudipta Sen in plotting a conspiracy that ensured phenomenal growth of Saradha Realty within a period of two years at the expense of investors," said a CBI officer.

"He refused to accept the charges initially but later went mum as evidence was produced before him," the officer added.

Mitra reached the CBI office around 10.55am. The battery of supporters usually seen around the minister was missing in the morning.

By late tonight, when Mitra was shifted from the CGO complex in Salt Lake to the Electronics Complex police station, several foot soldiers had turned up to shout slogans. Mitra is expected to be produced in the CBI court in Alipore tomorrow.

Other than Mitra's public appearances with Sudipta Sen, what put the CBI on the minister's trail was the way the Saradha boss went about acquiring land in Bishnupur in South 24-Parganas for the Saradha Gardens project.

Investigations revealed that the group's biggest land assets were in Bishnupur. The acquisitions mostly took place soon after Mitra was elected as the MLA of the Bishnupur West Assembly seat in 2009.

Instances of such striking "coincidence" have proved to be the biggest millstone around Trinamul's neck.

In 2010, Mitra attended a meeting of Saradha investors at the Netaji Indoor Stadium and showered praise on Sudipta Sen. Mitra later said he was then not aware that Saradha was a "chit fund company".

Law officer quits

It was a bad day in office for Mamata on another count, too. The state's advocate-general, Bimal Chatterjee, resigned, citing poor health. But legal sources said the government's attitude was to blame for the second such resignation since the Mamata government assumed power.