| Wednesday , April 1 , 2015 |
Missing: file on Saradha papers | |
| OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT | |
| Calcutta, March 31: The Bengal government has informed the CBI that it cannot trace a file on the decision that ordered state-linked libraries to subscribe to several newspapers either owned by the Saradha Group or linked to then Trinamul leaders, an officer said tonight. The CBI officer said investigators probing the larger conspiracy in the Saradha default scandal had wanted to know from the state government six weeks ago the details of the government order on the purchase of newspapers by libraries. "A senior officer of the mass education and library services department informed us last week that they can't trace the particular file containing the government order sent to the libraries," the CBI officer said. The order had triggered a controversy because of a perception that the government was settling scores with publications that refused to toe the official line. Among the 13 wereSakalbela and Kalam, once funded by Saradha. Sakalbela folded up after Saradha went bust and Trinamul leaders had bailed out Kalam after the arrest of Saradha chief Sudipta Sen. Trinamul Rajya Sabha MP Ahmed Hassan Imran, the editor of Kalam, had been questioned by the CBI in the Saradha case while Asif Khan, a one-time Trinamul election observer who was associated with the paper when it was under Saradha, has been arrested in a cheating case. A special secretary in the mass education and library services department had issued the order to the 2,463 government-aided libraries, 12 government libraries, seven government-sponsored libraries and the state central library. The "library list" serves to underscore the upheaval that has taken place in Trinamul since the Saradha scandal broke. Sangbad Pratidin was owned by former Trinamul Rajya Sabha MP Srinjoy Bose. Its associate editor was Kunal Ghosh, the Trinamul Rajya Sabha MP whom the party later suspended. Both Bose and Ghosh were arrested in the Saradha case. Since then, Bose has resigned from Trinamul as well as the Rajya Sabha. Ghosh, once a constant presence near Mamata, continues to be in jail but has caused irreparable damage to the chief minister by levelling specific allegations. Sanmarg director Vivek Gupta, and Akhbar-e-Mashriq editor Nadimul Haque were elected to the Rajya Sabha on Trinamul tickets. Kalam was included in the second order issued in the same month in 2012. A CBI officer said: "While investigating the Saradha case, we found that Sudipta Sen as well as Rose Valley chief Gautam Kundu were present at a meeting with the chief minister at Deolo (in Kalimpong) in March 2012. The decision on selecting some newspapers with Saradha links was also taken in March 2012. It is important for us to get the details of the government's decision on promoting these newspapers." http://www.telegraphindia.com/1150401/jsp/frontpage/story_12008.jsp#.VRtLx_yUeSo |