It’s often said there is a woman behind every successful man. In the case of jailed CMD of the Saradha Chit funds Sudipto Sen, there were no fewer than six women who had unfettered access to him and even acted as his minions.
The ‘charmed circle’ included Sen’s two wives and at least four women directors of his company -- Debika Dasgupta, Poulami Mukherjee and Mitali Banerjee, apart from the ‘Queen Bee’ Debjani Mukherjee.
Sen’s wives, Piyali and Madhumita -- who were based in the posh satellite town of Salt Lake -- have apparently gone underground. Of the women directors of the company, Mitali is married and in her forties, while Poulami and Debika are in their late twenties.
Investigators believe that it is Debjani, 27, with whom Sen had fled to Kashmir in his Scorpio, who holds the key to the company secrets. Sources said that she would even decide how much money should be sent to Sen’s wives and kids. According to police officials, she has around `30 crore in two private bank accounts.
“Transactions worth a few hundred crores have passed through Debjani’s accounts,” said a police official. Her influence over Sen was all pervasive; she held the purse strings even though he was the signing authority. Deeds of several properties had been purchased in her name and the police believe that interrogating her would yield details of Sen’s secret deals.
Debjani’s meteoric rise is a classic rags-to-riches tale and the would-be air hostess joined the Saradha Group as a receptionist three years ago. It was not long before she caught Sen’s eye.
The plump Calcutta girl, who went from door-to-door selling pickles with her mother, swiftly climbed up the Saradha corporate ladder. Not only did Sen promote her as the group’s no.2, she soon became the only channel to reach him.
A former employee of the group’s media arm told Express, “Whenever we had to discuss anything with Sen, it had to be routed through Debjani. There was no other way to reach him”.
Debjani remained as dubious a character as her former Naxalite boss who allegedly underwent cosmetic surgery to improve his looks. Her plush apartment on 48, Dhakuria Station Road is priced at around `1.5 crore and it was reportedly was furnished at a cost of 1 crore.
