Kolkata: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) probing the Saradha scam has frozen two bank accounts of painter Shuvaprasanna and sealed 24 of his properties as the artist has been untraceable since Monday.
“We had sent summons to him to appear before the ED last Monday. He did not come and sent a chartered accountant instead with documents. If he doesn’t appear in person, we will have to seize his properties,” an ED official said.
Detectives had a tough time since Tuesday trying to locate the painter, who was neither at his home in Saltlake or even at his art gallery “Art Acre’ in the outskirts of the city or his farmhouse in Raichak, around 50km south of Kolkata. He was expected to attend few programmes in the city on Tuesday, but he failed to turn up and his family members could not inform the agency about his whereabouts.
“Our officials have identified quite a number of flats registered in his daughter’s name, which were bought in the last few years. We have also found costly furniture, cameras and artwork from his residence in Mumbai. Also the painter has bought three hotels in Mumbai recently. The source of the fund is still not clear,” said another official.
Shyamal Sen Commission set by the state government had claimed Shuvaprasanna had sold the defunct channel to Saradha Group promoter Sudipto Sen at a price of Rs140 million (Dh8.31 million), whereas the artist has claimed to have sold it for Rs65 million creating confusion over the sale price.
Chief minister Mamata Banerjee has openly dumped him saying that she will not support the artist if he is found guilty in the scam. “If he is guilty he should be tried as per the law. I used to know the painter Shuvaprasanna, but not the businessman Shuvaprasanna,” Banerjee was reportedly quoted.
“He was never a member of our party. Media has termed his as Mamata loyalist. There are millions of such Mamata diehard fans in West Bengal. But that doesn’t mean party will stand by them if found guilty,” said Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Subrata Mukherjee.
Other TMC leaders though are worried that the proximity of Banerjee with that of Shuvaprasanna was well known in the state as she even attended few social gathering in the painter’s farm house and this may not bode well with the people.
“The problem is that it is impossible for any individual to know what the other person is doing. The truth though is that Shuvaprasanna has certainly used his proximity with Banerjee without her knowledge to earn such large sums of money,” admitted a TMC leader unwilling to be named.
Meanwhile, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday questioned former Health Minister of the north-eastern Indian state Assam, Himanta Biswa Sarma, in connection with its probe in the Saradha chit fund scam.
CBI sources said Sarma was asked to appear before the Special Investigation Team headed by Joint Director Rajiv Singh at the CGO Complex in Kolkata. Sarma, who appeared in the morning, is being questioned for his purported proximity with Saradha group chief Sudipta Sen, the sources said.
— with inputs from IANS