Son leaps to Mukul Roy's defence over Saradha allegations

KOLKATA: Trinamool Congress national-secretary Mukul Roy’s son Subhranshu, the party’s Bhatpara MLA, has defended his father — and himself — over allegations of involvement in the multi-crore Saradha scam and links with Sudipta Sen.
“Ami ebong amar baba keu Sudipta Sen ke samne theke dekhini (Neither I nor my father have never seen Sudipta Sen face to face),” Roy junior said at a public meeting in Kanchrapara on Friday evening.His remarks came a few hours after party supremo Mamata Banerjee relegated Roy — once her all-powerful No. 2 in the party — into the background. Mukul had skipped this function, but two senior Trinamool MLAs, including a parliamentary party secretary, shared the dais with Subhranshu.
Last Friday, Mamata formed a core committee to share Mukul’s workload and sent packing his aides Soumitra Khan (former Trinamool Youth Congress state president), Shankudeb Panda (former Trinamool Chhatra Parishad state president), Siuli Saha (former Trinamool general-secretary).
Subhranshu did not elaborate on his remarks to TOI on Monday. “I have said what I said. A section of media has reported it. I have nothing to add or disown,” he said before disconnecting the call.
Local media has quoted him as saying that he had never been to the Saradha office. “I have no connection with it. Can anyone prove that we met him (Sudipta Sen) face to face? Whatever we have can be found in our bank accounts. We do not have multiple cars or homes,” he said.
When asked about a purported photograph circulated in the media, which shows him, Mukul Roy, Trinamool MP Ahmad Hasan Imran and Sudipta Sen in the same frame, Subhranshu did not deny it. He said: “Yes, I had gone there. It wasn’t the Saradha office but the office of Kalom (a newspaper). I had gone on a Bengali New Year Day with a bouquet on the invitation of their employee’s association.”
Subhranshu’s defence comes in the wake of sustained allegations, first by suspended MP Kunal Ghosh and then by Sudipta’s former driver Arvind Singh Chauhan, about a purported meeting between Mukul, Sudipta and Rajat Majumdar at Nizam Palace a couple of days before the Saradha boss escaped from Kolkata. With a key Mukul aide Asif Khan now turning into a renegade, the party’s problems have only increased. CBI has already indicated that it is likely to question Mukul Roy on these allegations, possibly in October-end.