West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has accused the BJP of pursuing “political vendetta” against its opponents, a day after the CBI arrested a close associate of hers, a prominent producer in the Bengali film industry. The arrest was preceded by a standoff between the state police and personnel of the Central agency.
Shrikhant Mohta, the owner of Shree Venkatesh, the biggest film-producing and distribution company in Kolkata, was arrested on Thursday evening from his office in Kolkata. Mohta had produced most of the major Bengali hit movies in recent years. Mohta was arrested in connection with the multi-crore Chit Fund Scam in West Bengal.
Mohta is accused of taking around Rs 25 crore from Rose Valley fund manager Gautam Kundu and refusing to repay him. There is also an allegation that Mohta “collected funds from the Saradha group as well and spent money for the foreign trips of many film actors' shooting abroad". Kundu is now in CBI custody.
Mohta had been perceived to be one of the businessmen closest to Banerjee. He always travelled with Banerjee during her foreign trips. It was alleged that Mohta spent most of the money he had received from Kundu to buy paintings drawn by Banerjee. Banerjee is one of the few political personalities who have a habit of painting.
Following Mohta's arrest by the CBI, Banerjee tweeted on Friday, “One headless agency has now become spineless BJP!” in an apparent reference to the CBI, which does not have a formally appointed director now.
Banerjee also tweeted, “From @yadavakhilesh to Behen Mayawati Ji, nobody is spared. From north to south. From east to west. Political vendetta by BJP. Are they scared? Are they desperate?”.
Mohta was flown on Friday to Bhubaneswar as the CBI shifted hearing of the case to a CBI court in Bhubaneswar due to intense political pressure in Kolkata. The political clout of Mohta was such that on Thursday when the CBI raided his office at Eastern Bypass in Kolkata, he called the state police to rescue him. A police contingent rushed to his office immediately and entered into a massive war of words with CBI officials visiting the office.
The situation escalated to a point that a CBI joint director had to call up the chief secretary and home secretary to inform that the agency was investigating the case as per direction of the Supreme Court. The IAS officers had no other options but to ask the state police to go back.
The officers then brought Mohta to CGO Complex, CBI's regional office in Kolkata, at Sat Lake where he was arrested after half-an-hour interrogation. At his office, Mohta was interrogated for more than five hours.
Sources in the CBI have confirmed to THE WEEK, "We are under tremendous pressure from the court. We would have to finish the investigation. We will book all accused."
