TMC smells conspiracy in CBI arrest of Mamata's close aide and producer Shrikant Mohta
Kolkata, Jan 24 (IBNS): Reacting to the arrest of producer Shrikant Mohta by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday, the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) has accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of targeting people by using the probe agency.
In a jolt to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, the CBI has arrested one of the founder-directors of Kolkata-based media and entertainment company- SVF Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. (formerly Shree Venkatesh Films), Shrikant Mohta, who claims to be close to the TMC chief, in connection with its ongoing probe into Rose Valley chit fund scam, officials confirmed.
Interacting with media, state minister and senior TMC leader, Partha Chatterjee, said: "Everyone is getting targeted. The BJP is using central agencies to target people. This won't help them."
CPI-M leader Surjya Kanta Mishra also accused the Centre of manipulating the probe agencies causing delays in taking actions.
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"We have been saying this for a long. He (Mohta) was accused in a port case as well," Mishra said.
A CBI team raided Shrikant Mohta's office in south-east Kolkata's Acropolis Mall on Thursday afternoon and detained Mohta for further interrogation.
The CBI officers took Mohta to their office at CGO Complex in Salt Lake around 3pm and arrested him following an interrogation session this evening.
Sources in the central probe agency said that Shrikant Mohta was earlier grilled twice on a Rs 25-crore signed between SVF and a Rose Valley group-owned TV channel in 2010.
"An infotainment channel owned by the media and entertainment wing of Rose Valley group had signed a deal worth Rs 25 crore in 2010 with Shree Venkatesh Films to get the broadcasting rights of 70 films produced by SVF Entertainment Ltd," a CBI official told IBNS.
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"Later that year, Rose Valley chairman Gautam Kundu had moved court against SVF alleging that the film production company had given broadcasting rights of only 30 films to the Rose Valley channel instead of the promised 70 as mentioned in the deal," the official said.
"The producer has been arrested for providing misinformation and misguiding the probe and also for his non-cooperation with the investigators," the officer added.
Meanwhile, sources in the CBI claimed there were inputs that Mohta played the role of a hawala agent in laundering Saradha chit fund's money to several foreign countries during his films' shootings in overseas locations.
"We are taking support from the Income Tax and Enforcement Directorate (ED) departments to know more about the link," a CBI official said.
However, CBI is likely to take Mohta to Bhubaneswar on Thursday night and to produce him before a local court in Odisha's Khurda district on Friday morning.
(With inputs from Deepayan Sinha/IBNS)
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