Trinamool govt supportive towards chit funds: Biman Bose

KOLKATA: In a dig towards West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, opposition Left Front Chairman Biman Bose today said the Trinamool Congress-led government was "sympathetic" towards the chit funds in the state.

"The government from the beginning has been supportive towards the chit funds. So now if people and the agents protest against these chit funds then it is quite natural," Bose said.

The arrest of Sudipta Sen, the Chairman and Managing Director of Saradha Group, a non-banking financial company, has been ordered by West Bengal government for defaulting on payments.

"Steps are being taken to arrest him. Probably Sudipta Sen is now in north India. You will come to know whenever he is arrested," Banerjee had said yesterday.

With a huge default in repayments, the Saradha Group is virtually on the verge of collapse.

Pressure on its finances recently forced the group to wind up at least 10 media organisations, including newspapers and television channels it had launched or acquired since 2010-11. These channels and newspapers has been often accused of being "biased" towards the Trinamool Congress.

Over 1,200 employees, including journalists and technicians, have been rendered jobless in Kolkata following the biggest layoff in the media industry in eastern India.

The administration swung into action after a large number of its commission agents from across the state sought immediate intervention of the state government.