'Debjani resigned from Saradha in January'

KOLKATA: In a new twist to the Saradha Ponzi scheme case, Arpita Mukherjee - a cousin of Debjani Mukherjee - on Wednesday claimed that her sister had resigned from the group as an executive director in January.
Arpita, who is also a Saradha group employee, claimed that it was Sudipto Sen, the owner of the group, who asked Debjani to attend a meeting in Delhi."Accordingly, my sister went to Delhi on April 11 by air and was supposed to return to Kolkata on April 15. But, she went missing since April 11 and could only be traced a day before her arrest," Arpita said.
A student of MA from Rabindra Bharati University (distance education), Arpita joined the group's Siliguri office in 2011.
Debjani's lawyer Anirban Guhathakurta also confirmed that his client had resigned from her post three months ago but was called to Delhi to attend a board meeting to complete some "pending" formalities. But Guhathakurta said that his client had gone to Delhi on January 10.
"We came to know about a different version from the police statement from Debjani herself
. We got a call from Debjani a day before her arrest. She wanted to surrender. Accordingly, we were getting prepared. However, she was nabbed the next day," Guhathakurta said.
Arpita, who on Wednesday came to the Alipore court, wrapped her face with a dupatta while addressing the media. She blamed Sen for the "tragic fate" of her sister.
"From an ordinary receptionist to an executive director of Saradha group, it was like a fairy-tale experience for my sister, courtesy Sen. And it's Sen who has now ruined her life," she claimed.
"It's true that my sister was gifted a flat and car by Sudipto sir. But she was also exploited by her boss. She did everything under instructions from her boss," Arpita said. She also claimed that the
Giving an example of exploitation Arpita said that Saradha
group had stopped paying salary to Debjani, an executive director, from November 2012. When asked why did her sister continue to serve the group, Arpita said that it was a sheer "compulsion".
However, she did not elaborate on it. Arpita claimed that she too was not getting salary for the last six months.