Chit Fund Scam: CBI Raids Residences of TMC’s Subodh Adhikari, Kamal Adhikari

As many as seven locations in West Bengal were being probed by the CBI on Sunday.

Trinamool Congress (TMC)'s Bijpur MLA Subodh Adhikari.

(Photo: IANS/ Altered by The Quint)

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Sunday, 4 September, raided the residences of Trinamool Congress (TMC)'s Bijpur MLA Subodh Adhikari and his brother Kamal Adhikari in connection with the chit fund scam that duped people of lakhs of rupees.

Kamal Adhikari is also the chairman of the Kachrapara Municipality.

As many as seven locations in West Bengal were raided by the CBI on Sunday. At least six CBI teams have been carrying out searches at Halishahar and Kanchrapara in North 24 Parganas from Sunday morning.

The central probe agency had on Friday, 2 September, arrested Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader and Halisahar Municipality chairman Raju Sahani for his alleged role in the scam.

A team of CBI officers conducted raids at Sahani's residences on the outskirts of Halisahar and New Town and grilled him for hours in connection with its probe into the Bardhaman Sanmarg Welfare Trust ponzi scheme, an agency official said.

Nearly Rs 80 lakh in cash was recovered from the New Town residence, and a country-made pistol was recovered from his Halisahar home, he stated.

An FIR in connection with the scheme was lodged by the CBI's Economic Offences Unit in 2018.

The Supreme Court had in May 2014 directed the CBI to take over the investigations of all ponzi chit fund schemes that had duped lakhs of depositors in Bengal and neighbouring Odisha.

(With inputs from PTI.)