Saradha Chit Fund Scam: Orissa HC Rejects Bail Plea Of Debjani Mukherjee

Cuttack: The Orissa High Court on Monday rejected the bail application of Debjani Mukherjee, one of the accused in Saradha chit fund scam.

Debjani, the wife of chairman of Saradha Group of Companies Sudipta Sen was arrested by Kolkata Police in 2013 for her involvement in the scam amounting to more than Rs 2,500 crore. She has been lodged in the jail since then.

She was arrested following a complaint filed by a depositor in the chit fund, Rabi Narayan Swain of Odisha, that he had been duped of Rs 75,000 by the group. The Economic Offences Wing of Odisha Crime Branch had registered a case in this connection.

The ED had registered a case against Saradha Group in 2013 on the basis of the FIRs by Kolkata police. The Central agency had attached assets of the company worth over Rs 35 crore, which includes vehicles, buildings, flats, and bungalows in several districts across West Bengal.

Besides Debjani, Sudipta, some agents, Saradha Reality India, Saradha Garden Resort and Hotel Private Limited are the accused the multi-crore scam.

It may be noted that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday attached assets worth Rs 6.3 crore of “beneficiaries” like Nalini Chidambaram, wife of former Union Finance minister P Chidambaram, former CPM MLA Debendranath Biswas and a company owned by former Assam minister late Anjan Dutta in the Saradha chit fund money-laundering case.