AGARTALA, March 18 (TIWN): Narayan Debnath one of the agents of Rose Valley chit fund scam who was picked by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officials for interrogation on March 4th tried to flee away from the state to avoid further CBI interrogation. But failed to flee away from the state due to heavy political pressure created by the ministers and MLAs engaged with the Rose Valley chit fund, said sources.

It is to be mentioned here that another agent of Rose Valley chit fund scam namely Santosh Kumar Bhowmik resident of Champaknagar who was picked by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officials for interrogation on March 4th managed to flee away from the state after the interrogation. And till now Santosh Kumar Bhowmik is untraced, said sources.

It is also to be mentioned here that earlier, two persons Rose Valley Director Ashok Saha and Branch Manager Anupam Bhattacharjee were also arrested for collecting money without any valid permission from RBI or SEBI.

Rose Valley has been biggest chit fund operator in Tripura and has presence even in remote tribal areas. The company was first raided in 2011.

According to official figures, the Rose Valley had collected Rs 196 crore during the past three years, out of which an amount of Rs 86 crore has been returned on maturity. The Rose Valley authorities could not give any explanation where the remaining money is.

The Kolkata based chit fund company has several branch offices in West Bengal while over twelve thousand agents are working in the ‘down line’.

India's market regulator, Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), had earlier banned the Kolkata-based Rose Valley and several other non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) from accepting deposits from the public.