Preliminary probe reveals how Indranil Sen sidestepped personal bank accounts in fake Puja pass scam

Kolkata, Nov 6
Preliminary findings of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Kolkata Police and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the multi-crore fake UNESCO-tagged Durga Puja pass scam have revealed how arrested former West Bengal minister Indranil Sen allegedly avoided using his personal bank accounts for transactions linked to the fraud.

Investigators found that Indranil Sen, a former Tourism Minister and former Minister of State for Information and Cultural Affairs, allegedly relied on his family members' bank accounts and business entities associated with them for financial transactions linked to the scam.

According to a Kolkata Police source, scrutiny of five personal bank accounts belonging to Indranil Sen showed unusually low balances and no significant inflow or outflow of funds over the past few years.

“At the same time, no unusual inward or outward remittances from these five bank accounts were witnessed after examining the transaction patterns in these bank accounts for the last couple of years. In contrast, investigators noticed hefty inward and outward transactions in the bank accounts of Sen’s family members and the corporate entities they own. This gave our investigators a clear idea of how the former West Bengal minister avoided using his own bank accounts to carry out the transactions with the intention to keep himself clean in the entire scam,” the source said.

The transaction patterns have also come to the notice of the ED officials investigating the same UNESCO-tagged Durga Puja passes case. The central agency officials are now thoroughly examining the money trail of all these bank accounts to identify other beneficiaries in the multi-crore scam.

Sen is in police custody and will be produced at a city court on November 10. On Thursday, the same city court remanded Dhrybojyoti Basu, the secretary of “Mass Art, the entity through which the fake passes were sold, to police custody till November 13. “Mass Art” is owned by Sen’s wife, Madhuchhanda Sen.

The SIT members are currently interrogating Sen and Basu simultaneously and at times together, to get further clues in the case. “Our investigating officers aim to gather evidence-based information in the case as much as possible and present it in court to prevent the former minister from getting bail in the case,” said the city police source.