Former Bengal Minister Aroop Biswas Asked HDFC Bank to Freeze Party Account

A senior bank officer said the account had been put on 'a debit freeze'

KOLKATA: Former West Bengal sports minister Aroop Biswas - now being probed for last Dec's "Messigate" at Salt Lake stadium - wrote a letter six days ago to HDFC Bank, asking for the party's account to be frozen. The letter, to the bank's Central Plaza branch, sought a "freeze" till "competent authorities" could decide who controlled the party. Aroop's letter - dated June 12 though it was received by the bank on June 16 - became public knowledge Thursday, the day he presented himself to cops for the probe in the "Messigate" affair. Biswas's letter was written a week after the Trinamool national working committee on June 5 removed him as the party's treasurer and replaced him with ex-MP Subhasish Chakraborty. Party seniors said they had told HDFC Bank about the change.

Biswas on Thursday refused to comment on the letter. He has skipped all party meetings at former CM Mamata Banerjee's residence after the May 4 poll defeat. His brother, Swarup Biswas, is now in police custody after being implicated in a host of corruption- and extortion-related cases. HDFC Bank, too, did not officially react to the development. But a senior bank officer said the account had been put on "a debit freeze". A TMC functionary, however, strongly disputed this, claiming it was "a baseless rumour". The account, according to the audit report submitted by TMC to EC, holds Rs 535 crore. Trinamool spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said the party was aware of "the news reports". "But we want to clarify just one thing: Biswas is not the party treasurer; the party treasurer is Chakraborty. We do not want to comment on speculations," Ghosh added.