AGARTALA, April 19 (TIWN): Santosh Kumar Bhowmik, one of the famous agents of Rose Valley chit fund scam who was picked up by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officials for interrogation on March 4 this year is under the full protection of bigheads of Melarmath bosses. According to sources, Narayan Debnath another famous agent of Rose Valley chit fund scam who was picked by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officials for interrogation tried to flee away from the state to avoid further CBI interrogation. Unfortunately Narayan managed to escape from the state due to heavy political pressure created by the ministers and MLAs engaged with the Rose Valley chit fund. Rose Valley chit fund scam is believed to be the biggest ponzi fraud in India and the amount could exceed Rs 35,000 crore. The scam itself is at least seven times bigger than Saradha scam. Rose Valley has been the biggest chit fund operator in Tripura and has presence even in remote tribal areas. The company was first raided in 2011.

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.

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.

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. Established in 1999 as a public limited company, the Rose Valley group is registered under the Companies Act, 1956. It has been operating in eastern and northeastern states of India and has business interests in hospitals, films, hotels, amusement parks, real estate and construction, industrial ventures besides collection of deposits.