Neotia and Suvaprasanna. Pictures by Mayukh Sengupta

Calcutta, Oct. 13: Twelve city-based investors who put money into Devkripa Vyapar, the holding company of a television channel that was sold to Saradha, apparently never got to know one another because there was no annual general meeting between 2009 and 2011.

Three years down the line and spread over a fortnight, all 12 did get an opportunity to go to a common venue: not the boardroom of Devkripa Vyapar Pvt Ltd but the interrogation room of the Enforcement Directorate, less than 2km from the company’s address, in Salt Lake.

Today, it was the turn of Suvaprasanna, the painter who owned the company and was once a culture confidant of Mamata Banerjee, to turn up at the ED office. Also summoned was Harsh Neotia, the industrialist and well-wisher who had introduced some of the investors to “Suva-da”.

The ED had called the two after questioning the 12 investors over the past fortnight.

Devkripa Vyapar is the holding company of Akhon Samay, a news channel that never went on air, and was bought by Saradha boss Sudipta Sen for Rs 6.5 crore in 2011.

This deal, which finds no mention in Sen’s purported letter to the CBI last year, is one of those under the scanner of the directorate, which is probing the money laundering aspect in the Saradha scam.

ED officers said all the 12 investors had claimed that they were advised to invest in the company in 2009 — when the winds of political change had begun blowing in Bengal — by Harsh Neotia or one of his firms located on AJC Bose Road.

The investors had collectively pumped Rs 3 crore into the company while Suvaprasanna, who was once known for his proximity to the chief minister, and his wife chipped in with Rs 50 lakh.

The directorate is now probing why Sen paid as much as Rs 6.5 crore for a company whose channel had not even gone on air.

Four of the investors, according to an ED source, had come together to invest Rs 1 crore while six other companies had joined hands to pump in an identical amount. The rest was put in by two siblings whose company deals in shares and securities.

During the interrogation, an officer said, the questioners learnt that none of the investors knew any of the others.

While leaving the ED office, Neotia said he was asked whether and how he knew the investors to the company. Neotia said he did not refer all the 12 investors to the painter.

“I have known Suva-da for over 25 years now. So, in 2009, when he sought a few investors for his company, I had introduced one or two of them. Beyond that, I had no role,” Neotia said. “For the record, let me tell you: I don’t know Sudipta Sen and have never had any meetings with him.”

ED officials said they decided to call Neotia as all the 12 investors had claimed that it was through him or his firm that they got to know of Suvaprasanna’s company. “After such claims, there was no alternative but to question Neotia,” said an officer.

Sources said Neotia told the ED officials he had no knowledge of any of his firms recommending anyone to invest in Suvaprasanna’s company.

On the interrogation of Suvaprasanna, an official said: “During his previous interaction with us in March, Suvaprasanna had said he had bought the company from one Mr Jaiswal. Now he claims that he bought it from one Arun Poddar.”

The official added: “He could not explain why not a single AGM of the company was held in the three years.” A company registered under the Companies Act has to hold annual general meetings.

The ED is also probing why Sen paid the investors at par (the face value of each share, in this case Rs 10) even when the company’s balance sheet revealed it was making losses.

“Following the deal with Sudipta Sen, I had received my share of Rs 50 lakh,” Suvaprasanna said outside the ED office. “Sen had approached me directly and there was no middleman.”

That leaves the question where the rest of the Rs 6.5 crore paid by Sen went. ED officials said they had been told that Rs 3 crore was used to clear “sundry debts”.