Kolkata, Oct 1 (IANS) Former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and ex-Cabinet Minister Indranil Sen had been named by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday in relation to the central probe agency’s investigation into a case of money laundering, other than that of “Mass Art”, which had been accused of selling “Durga Puja Preview Show Passes” in 2024 and 2025.
Sen is already under the ED scanner in connection with the “Mass Art” case.
In this particular case, where both Mamata Banerjee and Sen, a singer-turned-politician, had been named by the ED is in relation to the agency’s investigation against Sen’s proprietorship concern christened Octave Records.
According to a statement issued by ED on Thursday evening, during Sen’s tenure as the West Bengal Tourism Minister during the previous Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress government, multiple tenders from both the state tourism as well as cultural departments of more than Rs 85 crore, were awarded to the entities owned by Dhrubajyoti Bose and Dipesh Roy, both of whom were close aides of Sen.
“These entities subsequently transferred large sums of money to entities controlled by relatives of Indranil Sen. Furthermore, massive cash withdrawals have been observed from the bank accounts of the entities that secured these tenders,” the ED statement said.
In the same statement, the ED claimed that a detailed investigation in the matter had revealed that cash of more than Rs 3.3 crore was deposited into the bank accounts of Sen and his proprietorship entity, Octave Records.
“Also, from the bank account of Octave Records, a sum of nearly Rs 30 lakh was transferred via banking channels to Mamata Banerjee, the then Chief Minister of West Bengal, which Indranil Sen has claimed was paid in the form of royalty,” the ED statement added.
According to the central agency, during search and seizure proceedings, incriminating digital devices and documentary evidence were found and seized under appropriate provisions.
“Further investigation is under progress,” the ED statement said.
There was no reaction from the faction in Trinamool Congress, which is still loyal to Mamata Banerjee and her nephew Abhishek Banerjee.
Sen too had kept himself incommunicado and hence his reactions were also not available in the matter.
As regards to the “Mass Art” case, ED officials on Tuesday conducted a marathon raid and search operation at the residence of Sen and his wife Madhuchhanda Sen at Kasba in South Kolkata.
Sen was also questioned for about 10 hours at ED’s Salt Lake office in the matter on Wednesday.
The singer-turned-politician on Thursday had been served with a fresh notice asking him to be present at ED’s Salt Lake office next week for another round of questioning in the matter.
–IANS
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