Saradha case: Probe agency arrests businessman Sandhir

The Central Bureau of Investigation has arrested businessman Sandhir Agarwal in Kolkata for his alleged role in the Saradha chit fund scam after a grilling session with accused kingpin Sudipta Sen and the already arrested East Bengal club official Debabrata Sarkar.

Agarwal is suspected to have acted as a middleman with SEBI and other regulatory bodies and saved Sen from their wrath, CBI sources said. The arrest happened on Saturday night. Sen apparently told the CBI that Agarwal had taken a substantial fee for helping him keep SEBI and other regulatory bodies from acting against him, they said.CBI sources said it was felt during the probe that Agarwal’s custody was important for further investigation in the case. There are four FIRs against Saradha Group in which it is alleged that thousands of investors were duped by the company’s officials and their associates who swindled their deposits.

Besides, there are 44 FIRs in Odisha against ponzi companies.

The Supreme Court has handed over the Saradha chit fund scam probe to CBI and asked the state governments to provide all logistical help to the agency.

CBI has formed a Special Investigating Team (SIT) headed by Joint Director Rajiv Singh to also probe the role of the Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and RBI.

‘The investigation conducted so far puts a question mark on the role of regulatory authorities like SEBI, Registrar of Companies and officials of RBI within whose respective jurisdictions and areas of operation the scam not only took birth but flourished unhindered,’ an apex court bench headed by Justice TS Thakur had said in its order.