Kolkata: The ticket cost ₹1,800 to ₹12,000. The list of the accused is still growing.
Former West Bengal minister of state for information and culture Indranil Sen was remanded to 13 days of police custody on Thursday, a day after Kolkata Police's detective department picked him up as he stepped out of the Enforcement Directorate's office in Salt Lake.
At the centre is the Mahanirban Road Mass Art Society, set up after Durga Puja received UNESCO's intangible cultural heritage tag in 2021. Sen's wife, Madhuchhanda Sen, is its president and Dhrubajyoti Bose its secretary.
The complaint, filed by Jaydeep Mukherjee at Bowbazar police station, alleges that the accused falsely represented the organisation as UNESCO-sponsored and collected large sums from the public between 2022 and 2025. The passes bought entry to preview shows at 24 selected pandals in Kolkata.
The ED said the money was used for personal gain, and that about ₹30 lakh was transferred from the bank account of Octave Records, a company owned by Sen, to former Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. Sen has claimed the payment was royalty.
The ED's preliminary estimate puts the alleged irregularities at ₹50-60 crore. On September 29 the agency searched 15 premises linked to Sen, including his Kasba residence.
"We have found crores were transacted through him, for which he could not provide any explanation," said Kunal Aggarwal, joint commissioner (crime) of Kolkata Police.
The Calcutta High Court had denied Sen anticipatory bail. He then moved the Supreme Court, where a bench of Justice Dipankar Dutta recused itself on Tuesday for personal reasons.
Sen and his wife have denied the allegations. Trinamool Congress spokesperson Kunal Ghosh has called the probe politically motivated, and said the ₹30 lakh was legal royalty for songs and literary work, accounted for with TDS deductions in income-tax returns.
Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, however, claimed that the former chief minister may also have had a share in the alleged scam.
A case has been registered against Sen under seven sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. The investigation continues.