Kolkata: The Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Kolkata Police on Wednesday night arrested Dhrubojyoti Basu, a senior official associated with the organisation Mass Art, in connection with the alleged multi-crore fake Durga Puja pass scam, in what investigators described as the second major arrest in the case after former West Bengal Tourism Minister Indranil Sen.

Source: Tripura Net

According to investigators, Basu was among the individuals named in the initial First Information Report (FIR) and had allegedly been absconding since the arrest of Sen last week. Mass Art is the entity through which the disputed festival passes were allegedly marketed and sold, offering visitors access to Durga Puja preview events and exclusive festival tours.

The case centres on allegations that passes were sold by presenting the organisation's activities as associated with UNESCO's recognition of Kolkata's Durga Puja, which was inscribed as an Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2021. Investigators are examining whether the UNESCO name and logo were used without authorisation to attract customers. The allegations have not been proved in court.

Both Indranil Sen and his wife Madhuchhanda Sen have consistently named Basu as the person responsible for handling Mass Art's operational activities, news agency IANS reported, adding that investigators were seeking clarity on who exercised effective control over the entity. Madhuchhanda Sen is named in the FIR and has secured anticipatory bail from the Calcutta High Court, and she has been questioned by the SIT.

Source: IANS via Hi India

The SIT probing the case was expanded this week to nine officers, including four officers described as experts in anti-forgery operations. Investigators have questioned nine other people in the matter, and the couple's daughter Averi Sen has faced questions over financial transactions involving two entities reportedly controlled by her, iScape and Mayra, according to IANS.

Sen, a singer-turned-politician who served as Tourism Minister and Minister of State for Information and Cultural Affairs, remains in police custody and is scheduled to be produced before a lower court in Kolkata on November 10. Both Kolkata Police and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) are conducting parallel investigations; the city police took Sen into custody after he came out of the ED's Salt Lake office last week. With Basu's arrest, investigators are expected to question him on the organisation's functioning, the alleged pass-selling arrangements and the financial dealings linked to them. All allegations in the case remain subject to investigation and judicial proceedings.