Kolkata, West Bengal: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday grilled Trinamool Congress MP Ahamed Hassan Imran for around seven hours in connection with its money laundering probe in the multi-crore Saradha chit fund scam case.
The ED recorded the statement of Imran, a Rajya Sabha MP, during his questioning for around seven hours about his links with the now defunct group owned by jailed Saradha Chairman Sudipta Sen, agency sources said.
Imran reached the agency's office in Salt Lake early in the day, "The MP's statement was recorded and he has assured cooperation in the future in this case," the sources said.
After his questioning, Hassan told PTI that he has "submitted necessary documents and given all the relevant details" pertaining to the sale of a three-decade-old Bengali daily to Sen few years back.
ED, according to sources, wanted to question Imran as he has been the Executive Editor of the publication called 'Kalam' which was sold by him to Sen, who apparently purchased all the shares of the newspaper in order to expand the media platform he was hosting.
The sources said the MP has told the agency that he has done no transaction with a wrong intent and he would help them with all the information he has got in this regard.
"No amount has changed hands wrongfully. I told them the deal had no wrong intention," Imran said.
ED, sources said, wanted to know the details of Imran's financial income and other interests while being associated with the publication.
The agency also confronted the MP with some documents it has seized sometime back in this case.
Sources said Imran's testimony in the case was "very important" in order to understand the business transactions of the Saradha group's media businesses.
The ED has earlier quizzed TMC MP's Mithun Chakraborty and Kunal Ghosh and state Textile minister Shyamapada Mukherjee in this case.
A criminal case under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) has been registered by the agency last year to probe the ponzi scam that came to light last year after thousands of investors alleged they were duped of their hard earned money by the schemes run by Saradha group.
