AFTER several of Trinamool Congress leaders and members of Parliament faced grilling by CBI and Enforcement Directorate in Saradha chit fund scam, the knocking at the door of party chief Mamata Banerjee seems imminent. According to media reports, CBI has now gathered enough evidence to track the trail of money laundering to the West Bengal Chief Minister’s gate. It has been reported that the central agencies are planning to ‘seek clarifications’ from the Chief Minister or her office on several allegations and deals that have come into light through series of interrogations. In the past three months, CBI has questioned five Trinamool MPs, a state minister and several other party leaders. The agency has also arrested TMC MP Kunal Ghosh and former DGP of the state and TMC leader Rajat Majumdar. Ghosh has spilled the beans and has demanded that Mamata be investigated in the case. Ghosh has claimed in the court too that Mamata was the biggest beneficiary of the scam. CBI questioned Srinjoy Bose, Rajya Sabha MP and editor of Bengali newspaper ‘Sangbad Pratidin’, for several hours. He had a direct business relation with scamster Sudipta Sen. Asif Khan, a close confidant of top TMC leaders and observer of the party in Uttar Pradesh elections, has categorically alleged that the ‘fleeing’ of Saradha chief from Kolkata after the hell broke out was planned meticulously by Mukul Roy, another MP and general secretary of TMC, and was coordinated by Rajat Majumdar. Arvind Chouhan, the driver of Sen, has stated publicly that it was he who drove Sen to Nizam Palace in Kolkata where he met Mukul Roy and others just before the ‘escape’ was staged. Another TMC MP Subhendu Adhikary was also interrogated for his alleged connection with Saradha chief in realty business among others. But major allegations are pointed to none other than Mamata Banerjee herself. Her midnight sojourn with Sudipta Sen and the owner of another big chit fund firm in Kalimpong in 2012 has been exposed. But no denial has come from her over the past one-and-a-half years. There was specific instance of business deal between the Saradha Group and IRCTC when she was the railway minister. It has been alleged that huge money was supplied by Saradha Group to TMC before the 2011 assembly elections. Local media reports quoted CBI sources and said that the investigating agencies would soon approach the CM’s office to dig out the truth. The big question now is when and how the Chief Minister’s doorbell will ring. Meanwhile, Left Front has once again sought answers from the chief minister about her alleged involvement in this scam. Left Front chairman Biman Basu announced that a series of protests and demonstrations would be organised throughout the state, demanding punishment to all those involved in the fraud and proper compensation for the cheated depositors. In a press conference, Basu also clarified the position of CPI(M) that the Party would severely punish anyone associated with the Party if he or she was found to be a beneficiary of this scam. But so far, nothing of that has been reported. Basu clarified that CPI(M) leader Rabin Deb was summoned by CBI and was asked questions about a particular incident of 2010. The incident was not directly linked with the Saradha Group’s business. Deb has told the investigators whatever he knew. CPI(M) will help in the inquiry whenever the agencies will feel necessary. CPI(M) Polit Bureau member and leader of opposition in the assembly Surjya Kanta Misra has said that CPI(M) is most eager to unearth the conspiracy behind this scam. If CBI calls any of the Party leaders they would go and would depose whatever they know. In fact, after the scam has been exposed in April, 2013, much information is pouring from the districts and other quarters about how the fraud was perpetrated. In many cases, aggrieved persons are narrating their ordeals in public forum or privately to those who are mobilising sufferers for justice.