ED Summons Bengali Actor Rituparna Sengupta In Rs 10,000-Crore Ration Scam, Says Funds Were Used In Film Industry

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has summoned Bengali actor Rituparna Sengupta to appear before the agency in Kolkata on 5 June in connection with her alleged involvement in the Rs 10,000-crore ration scam in West Bengal.

According to a report from The Indian Express, the initial investigation has revealed that funds from the ration scam were used in the Bengali film industry.

Sengupta has been instructed to bring detailed accounts of her films to the ED office at Nizam Palace.

Investigators have alleged that during the second term of the Mamata Banerjee government (2016-21), an influential businessman named Bakibur Rahman supplied rice and wheat to fair price shop distributors in quantities less than mandated.

The remaining grain was then sold on the open market for profit.

On 14 October, the ED arrested Bakibur Rahman at his residence in Kaikhali, on the outskirts of Kolkata. Rahman is said to have close ties with Forest Minister Jyotipriya Mallick, who was arrested by the central agency on 27 October after a 22-hour interrogation.

Mallick, who served as the food and supplies minister from 2016 to 2021, was the first Trinamool Congress leader arrested in the scam.

Following backlash over the Public Distribution System (PDS) scam, Mallick was replaced by Rathin Ghosh in 2021.

The ED also arrested former Trinamool Congress strongman Sheikh Sahjahan, recovering arms and ammunition from his residence. He is currently in judicial custody.

Earlier Rituparna Sengupta was interrogated by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with the Rose Valley ponzi scam.