Saradha: Mithun Chakraborty tells ED he was paid Rs 1.76 crore

Kolkata, Feb 2: Sudipto Sen had his eyes set on carrying out a massive scam. He realized that getting in touch and being associated with top leaders of a ruling party would help him through.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED), which is probing the money transactions between the celebrities and Sen, has found that he made hefty payments.

However, he never issued a single formal agreement to any of them although he had promised them.

The case of Mithun Chakraborty is the same. In a detailed written response to the Enforcement Directorate, he explains how he met Sen and the payments that were made to him.

What the actor-MP told the ED?

Actor and Rajya Sabha MP, Mithun Chakraborty was paid Rs 1.76 crore by Sudipta Sen to do a chat show on Channel 10.

Mithun Chakraborty also told the Enforcement Directorate tracking the Saradha money trail that he was introduced to Sen by Kunal Ghosh who had advised him to do the show.

Written response to ED:

Mithun, who has been on the radar of the Enforcement Directorate, decided to write his responses and sent it to the ED.

In a detailed written response he said he was paid the amount of Rs 1.76 crore for doing a chat show called 'Bangla bolche songe Mithun.

He said that the show was aired on Channel 10 a news channel. To a question whether there was an formal agreement between him and Sen for this show and also the payment, Mithun said there was none.

How Mithun met Sen?

Mithun further told the ED that the payments were made to him from the Bengal Media Private Ltd which is owned by the Saradha group. The payments were made through a bank, he also informed.

Mithun further states that the first time he met with Sen was on Nov 2010.

"I was told by Kunal Ghosh to meet him. Further Ghosh told me to do the political chat show for the channel to which I agreed," said the veteran actor.

He also added, "Sen then appointed me to the Channel on Nov 5 and even gave a signing amount of Rs 10 through cheque. While I was told that a formal agreement would be signed, nothing to that effect took place."

"I was unaware of the scam and had no inkling what Sen was up to. However I have the details of the payments and also paid tax for the same," Mithun also told the ED.

ED to probe further:

What the ED has found is that several celebrities were roped in by the Saradha group. However, most of them who were roped in were either close or involved with the Trinamool Congress (TMC).

There seems to be a pattern as Sen was all out to use political clout to further the scam, investigations have also learnt.

In almost all cases, he has made hefty payments, but never issued any formal agreement although he assured he would do so, an officer informed.

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