Mithun surrenders Rs 1.2 crore received from Saradha to ED

June 17, 2015

Kolkata, Jun 17: Trinamool Congress MP and actor Mithun Chakraborty today surrendered to Enforcement Directorate (ED) an amount of about Rs 1.2 crore that he had received from scam-hit Saradha group of companies for being its brand ambassador.

mithunSources said a team of lawyers and other representatives of the actor reached the probe agency's office at Salt Lake here and handed over a Demand Draft (DD) to the investigating officer (IO) of the case.

"This was part of Chakraborty's earlier commitment that he would return the funds that he had received from the group.

The DD has been given to the IO of the Saradha scam probe case," sources said.

They added that the agency is satisfied with the said action and the statement recorded by the actor-politician regarding his role in the operations of the group, which has now become defunct in the wake of allegations against it of perpetrating a large-scale chit-fund scam in West Bengal and other states.

During his last questioning by ED here in May, Chakraborty had provided the agency sleuths with a number of DVDs, CDs and scripts that he had got as part of being the brand ambassador of the Saradha group.

The actor had done so to back his claim to investigators that his association with Saradha Group was "purely professional" and that he had no intentions of cheating or duping anyone.

"He had told investigators that he had no inkling about any sort of scam that was being perpetrated. The actor had submitted all his personal and official records to the agency in this regard," the sources said.Chakraborty had also promised he would deposit the amount of Rs 1.2 crore he had received from Saradha Group so that it may be finally restored to the depositors who were allegedly cheated in the scam.

The Rajya Sabha MP of the ruling party in West Bengal had told ED that he "actually acted in promotional videos and advertisements that were broadcast on television shows" made by the Saradha Group and that was done as per his contract.

He told investigators that if he had bad intentions, he would not have undertaken the promotional activity and instead merely stashed the money away.

The probe agency had in June last year questioned the actor in Mumbai after it detected that some money had gone into his account from Saradha business portals.

ED subsequently summoned him again early this year following which the latest submissions happened.

While recording his statement last year, sources said Chakraborty had told investigators that he had "no business dealings" with the now-defunct group which was headed by Sudipta Sen and that he would share all personal transaction details with them.

ED sources had earlier said Chakraborty was reportedly sent the said amount for being the brand ambassador of a media platform floated by Saradha Group.

The agency had registered a criminal case under PMLA in 2013 and has already questioned a number of people, including sitting MPs and political leaders, in this regard.

The agency, till now, has found that a maze of 338 bank accounts and 224 companies were used by the perpetrators of the alleged ponzi scam which duped investors in various states including West Bengal, Odisha and Assam.

CBI, probing the case on the directions of Supreme Court, has also filed a charge sheet in a court.

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News Network
July 23,2020

Mumbai, Jul 23: Mumbai Police will soon issue summons to actor Kangana Ranaut to record her statement in connection with the case related to the suicide of actor Sushant Singh Rajput, officials said on Thursday.

A day after Sushant Singh Rajput's suicide, Kangana Ranaut had released a two-minute video speaking highly of the deceased actor and accusing certain sections of the film industry of not acknowledging the star's talent.

She had also said that some of the last social media posts by the actor made it evident that he was struggling to survive in the industry.

According to the police, statements of 39 people, including film critic Rajeev Masand, director-producer Sanjay Leela Bhansali, and filmmaker Aditya Chopra have been recorded in the investigation so far.

The Mumbai Police had recently said the statements of three psychiatrists and one psychotherapist have been recorded in connection with the suicide investigation.

Rajput was found dead in his Mumbai residence on June 14.

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July 3,2020

Mumbai, Jun 3: Investigators will subject the cloth allegedly used by actor Sushant Singh Rajput to hang himself to "tensile strength" analysis to determine whether it can bear the weight similar to that of the filmstar, as part of probe into his death, an official said on Friday.

Rajput (34) was found hanging at his suburban Bandra residence on June 14.

According to the investigators, the actor ended his life by hanging himself from the ceiling using a green coloured night gown made of cotton.

No suicide note was found from the spot, the police had said then.

Besides viscera from the actors body, the police also sent the gown for chemical and forensic analysis at the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) in suburban Kalina, he said.

It will take at least three more days to get final forensic report, the official said.

To ascertain the exact cause of death, forensic experts will check pattern of ligature marks around the actors neck and also determine the strength of the gown with the help of "tensile strength" analysis, he said.

The tensile strength test will technically establish whether the cloth can bear around 80kg, the weight of the actor, he said.

The test will help determine if there was any foul play, the official said.

Tensile strength is maximum load that a material can support without fracture when being stretched.

Viscera analysis will help in checking whether there were any traces of chemical, poisonous or narcotics substance in his body, the official said.

"Usually, it takes eight to ten working days to get s report from the FSL in regular cases. But since this case is sensitive, experts are taking more precautions to avoid any kind of error in their analysis," the official said.

The forensic report of the actors mobile phone is also awaited, he said.

Recently, the police received the final post-mortem report of the actor from Cooper Hospital, which mentioned the cause of the death as asphyxia due to hanging"

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News Network
March 28,2020

Chennai, Mar 28: Chennai City Corporation personnel stuck a home quarantine sticker at the office of actor-politician Kamal Haasan's Makkal Needhi Maiam office on Saturday, leading to speculation that the matinee star was quarantined for the coronavirus.

While there was speculation if Kamal Haasan was quarantined, the Greater Chennai Corporation said their staffers pasted the sticker on the premises because actress Gautami Tadimalli "returned from Dubai recently and her passport has this address (Eldams Road in upscale Alwarpet)."

The present residence of the actress was not known immediately.

The sticker read, "We are in home quarantine to safeguard ourselves and Chennai from the coronavirus." It was removed soon, an official said, declining to elaborate.

Kamal Haasan clarified in a statement that he was not quarantined.

"Based on the notice stuck outside my house, news has been spread saying that I have been quarantined. But most of you already know that I have not been living there for the past few years and the Makkal Needhi Maiam party office has been functioning from there," he said.

Further, the actor said, the news that he has been quarantined "is not true."

As a precautionary measure, he has been maintaining social distancing, he said.

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