Kolkata, For the past decade, 52-year-old Rishin Majumdar has been working in two shifts, trying to repay a huge loan of Rs 30 lakh taken to compensate investors of Saradha Group, where he once worked as an agent. Had worked as.
"After the collapse of Saradha Group in 2013, people who had invested money through me wanted to withdraw it. I was beaten up, and even my family members were not spared. Then I I was forced to take a loan of Rs 30 lakh from a local moneylender. “I lost Rs 5 lakh in the chit fund,” Majumdar said.,
His story is familiar to millions who fell victim to the multi-crore chit fund scam that rocked West Bengal in 2013. Corruption scandals like the school recruitment scam in West Bengal take center stage in the Lok Sabha elections, with 201 chit fund scams enduring And hopeful victims of one of the state's biggest financial scams since independence - are still waiting for justice more than ten years later. Year.
The Bengal chitfund scam involved several companies, particularly the Saradh Group, taking advantage of investors' trust with promises of high returns.
At its peak in 2012, there were more than 200 chit-fund companies operating in Bengal.More than a decade has passed, yet the search for justice remains incomplete for these victims, their lives forever changed by the deceit and betrayal of those they trusted with their life savings.
Ashok Barui from Ballygunge and Selen Pal from Baruipur represent the faces of this scam. Despite his education, limited opportunities led him to work as agents for these chit-fund companies, convincing thousands of people to invest their hard-earned money.
His story mirrors the story of many other people in Bengal who are chasing the dream of making fast money but ultimately end up financially ruined. “I have received 20 donations from neighbours, relatives and friends for the Saradha Group. Had collected lakhs of rupees.I took my family's savings of Rs 1 lakh and invested it. Ever since the company closed, I have been beaten. I returned some money from my pocket but it was very little,” said Salen, son of an auto driver who works as an agent in Saradha Group.
Investors and agents of these Ponzi schemes were spread across the state, with a large number from South Bengal, especially from the eight Lok Sabha constituencies of North and South 24 Parganas, which go to the polls on June 1.
By 2013, an estimated two crore depositors were affected by a Ponzi scheme involving companies like Saradha and Rose Valley groups.Despite CBI and Enforcement Directorate investigations, the total amount lost by investors is unknown, estimated to be more than Rs 30,000 crore. Purnima Kundu said, “My father invested his life savings after retirement, but Everything is lost. During elections, parties promise that the matter will be resolved soon, but nothing happens."
In the last Lok Sabha elections, BJP had promised that the culprits would not be spared and defrauded investors would get their money back.
A member of the Investor and Agent Protection Forum highlighted the tragic losses, “Many agents and investors committed suicide after losing their life savings.“Chit Fund Victims Forum convenor Asim Chatterjee said it is ironic that both TMC and BJP talk about corruption and try to create a narrative of their fight against corruption.
Chatterjee, a former firebrand Naxalite leader of the seventies, said, "TMC tried its best to stop the CBI investigation and fought a long court battle, while the BJP politicized it for its own political gains."
In 2014, several high-profile TMC leaders and ministers were arrested after the Supreme Court ordered a CBI probe into the Saradha scam. A former CBI officer, who was part of the initial investigation into the chit-fund scam, lamented that in 2016 Very little progress has been made in the investigation since then.
“But by 2017, most of them were out on bail.Only Sudipto Sen, chairman of Saradha group of companies, is in jail. Even after a decade there has been little progress in the investigation,” he said.
Congress leader Abdul Mannan, who played a key role in building the Saradha Chi fund case against TMC along with Supreme Court lawyer and CPI(M) MP Vikas Ranja Bhattacharya, said, "The understanding between TMC-BJ has hampered the investigation. He said, "We tried our best to get justice to the depositors and agents. But BJP made it a bargaining chip against TMC and the investigation was compromised.,
CPI(M) leader Sujan Chakraborty accused the "TMC government of obstructing the process of selling assets from chit funds like Saradha and Rose Valley to repay defrauded depositors."
He said, "TMC benefited from the scam, the investigation was mismanaged in the name of the Special Investigation Team and evidence was destroyed." However, TMC claimed that it is for the BJP to answer as to why the investigation was not completed. happened.
TMC spokesperson Shantanu Sen said, "BJP used this investigation to defame us. But in reality BJP has leaders who were involved in this scam.,
BJP leader Samik Bhattacharya denied the allegations and said, "BJP is committed to fighting against corruption." Political analyst Vishwanath Chakraborty said that although Saradha chit fund scam has become synonymous with corruption allegations against TMC, it is not a public Fading from memory.
He said, “The Saradha scam investigation has now become a sham as people are not believing in it. There is a perception that both TMC and BJP have compromised the investigation for political gains."
"After the collapse of Saradha Group in 2013, people who had invested money through me wanted to withdraw it. I was beaten up, and even my family members were not spared. Then I I was forced to take a loan of Rs 30 lakh from a local moneylender. “I lost Rs 5 lakh in the chit fund,” Majumdar said.,
His story is familiar to millions who fell victim to the multi-crore chit fund scam that rocked West Bengal in 2013. Corruption scandals like the school recruitment scam in West Bengal take center stage in the Lok Sabha elections, with 201 chit fund scams enduring And hopeful victims of one of the state's biggest financial scams since independence - are still waiting for justice more than ten years later. Year.
The Bengal chitfund scam involved several companies, particularly the Saradh Group, taking advantage of investors' trust with promises of high returns.
At its peak in 2012, there were more than 200 chit-fund companies operating in Bengal.More than a decade has passed, yet the search for justice remains incomplete for these victims, their lives forever changed by the deceit and betrayal of those they trusted with their life savings.
Ashok Barui from Ballygunge and Selen Pal from Baruipur represent the faces of this scam. Despite his education, limited opportunities led him to work as agents for these chit-fund companies, convincing thousands of people to invest their hard-earned money.
His story mirrors the story of many other people in Bengal who are chasing the dream of making fast money but ultimately end up financially ruined. “I have received 20 donations from neighbours, relatives and friends for the Saradha Group. Had collected lakhs of rupees.I took my family's savings of Rs 1 lakh and invested it. Ever since the company closed, I have been beaten. I returned some money from my pocket but it was very little,” said Salen, son of an auto driver who works as an agent in Saradha Group.
Investors and agents of these Ponzi schemes were spread across the state, with a large number from South Bengal, especially from the eight Lok Sabha constituencies of North and South 24 Parganas, which go to the polls on June 1.
By 2013, an estimated two crore depositors were affected by a Ponzi scheme involving companies like Saradha and Rose Valley groups.Despite CBI and Enforcement Directorate investigations, the total amount lost by investors is unknown, estimated to be more than Rs 30,000 crore. Purnima Kundu said, “My father invested his life savings after retirement, but Everything is lost. During elections, parties promise that the matter will be resolved soon, but nothing happens."
In the last Lok Sabha elections, BJP had promised that the culprits would not be spared and defrauded investors would get their money back.
A member of the Investor and Agent Protection Forum highlighted the tragic losses, “Many agents and investors committed suicide after losing their life savings.“Chit Fund Victims Forum convenor Asim Chatterjee said it is ironic that both TMC and BJP talk about corruption and try to create a narrative of their fight against corruption.
Chatterjee, a former firebrand Naxalite leader of the seventies, said, "TMC tried its best to stop the CBI investigation and fought a long court battle, while the BJP politicized it for its own political gains."
In 2014, several high-profile TMC leaders and ministers were arrested after the Supreme Court ordered a CBI probe into the Saradha scam. A former CBI officer, who was part of the initial investigation into the chit-fund scam, lamented that in 2016 Very little progress has been made in the investigation since then.
“But by 2017, most of them were out on bail.Only Sudipto Sen, chairman of Saradha group of companies, is in jail. Even after a decade there has been little progress in the investigation,” he said.
Congress leader Abdul Mannan, who played a key role in building the Saradha Chi fund case against TMC along with Supreme Court lawyer and CPI(M) MP Vikas Ranja Bhattacharya, said, "The understanding between TMC-BJ has hampered the investigation. He said, "We tried our best to get justice to the depositors and agents. But BJP made it a bargaining chip against TMC and the investigation was compromised.,
CPI(M) leader Sujan Chakraborty accused the "TMC government of obstructing the process of selling assets from chit funds like Saradha and Rose Valley to repay defrauded depositors."
He said, "TMC benefited from the scam, the investigation was mismanaged in the name of the Special Investigation Team and evidence was destroyed." However, TMC claimed that it is for the BJP to answer as to why the investigation was not completed. happened.
TMC spokesperson Shantanu Sen said, "BJP used this investigation to defame us. But in reality BJP has leaders who were involved in this scam.,
BJP leader Samik Bhattacharya denied the allegations and said, "BJP is committed to fighting against corruption." Political analyst Vishwanath Chakraborty said that although Saradha chit fund scam has become synonymous with corruption allegations against TMC, it is not a public Fading from memory.
He said, “The Saradha scam investigation has now become a sham as people are not believing in it. There is a perception that both TMC and BJP have compromised the investigation for political gains."
