Tapas Pal not alone, many more Trinamool leaders under CBI lense

Actor-turned-MP Tapas Pal is not the only Trinamool Congress leader who is under the scanner of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for alleged links with the Rose Valley chit fund group. Sources said a number of politicians, most of them associated with the ruling party, had financial links with the group that is believed to have raised more money from the public than Saradha.

“We have information that not only Pal but many other Trinamool leaders were on the payroll of Rose Valley. All of them will be investigated by us,” a CBI official who did not want to be named told HT.

The Rose Valley group is believed to have collected around Rs. 15,000 crore from the public spread over several states. CBI sleuths on Wednesday raided the Kolkata home of Tapas Pal and will soon ask the MP to subject himself for interrogation. “We may also raid some other politicians in the coming days,” a CBI source said.

On Friday, Pal welcomed the CBI probe into chits funds operating in the state. Significantly, the Trinamool MP had written to the Centre about the illegal activities of chit fund groups in Bengal, but the name of Rose Valley did not figure in the list. “I did not know about the activities of Rose Valley then. I will cooperate with the CBI probe,” Pal said.

“The Rose Valley scam is much bigger than Saradha and there are many political leaders who are directly or indirectly linked to a host of companies of the Rose Valley group. We are now evaluating their exact roles,” a CBI official told HT, adding, “As in the Saradha case, the media and entertainment companies are under the scanner.”