The son of a former Trinamool Congress minority cell leader from Asansol has been accused of luring thousands of investors with the promise of unusually high returns on their cash deposits and swindling them of "crores".

The scam reportedly came to light after hundreds of depositors demonstrated in front of the house of Tahsin Ahmad, son of former Trinamool minority cell leader Shakil Ahmad, at Jahangir Colony in Asansol on Wednesday. Some also lodged police complaints on Thursday.

BJP leader Amit Malviya and leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari highlighted the incident in their social media handles accusing Trinamool of looting the money from over 3,000 innocent people. Adhikari also demanded a probe by the Enforcement Directorate, immediate arrest of Tahsin and full repayment of the money to the victims.

Adhikari alleged on X that Tahsin collected over ₹350 crore from people over the past 20 months through his unlicensed Ponzi company by promising them 14 per cent return against their deposit and later closed down his office on October 15 without repaying the money.

As per complaints, Tahsin promised investors hefty monthly interest in exchange for investments in his ventures. Initially, participants received some returns, but payments allegedly stopped after a few months, triggering widespread protests.

On Wednesday, angry depositors staged a demonstration outside Tahsin’s residence in Asansol, demanding their money back. Some investors have alleged that the scam could be worth as much as ₹450 crore. The police were also unable to confirm the amount of the alleged scam.

Trinamool denied any association with Tahsin.

"We have heard about an incident of money laundering by Tahsin Ahmad. Some investors have lodged police complaints against him and the law will take its own course. But the BJP is trying to link the incident with our party. This is baseless. We don't know Tahsin Ahmad. He has no link with Trinamool Congress. His father was once our party's minority cell leader but now he has no portfolio," said Animesh Das, a Trinamool block president in Asansol.

A retired BSF officer, who claims to be among the victims, said: “I initially invested ₹3 lakh and received good returns. Later, I put in ₹41 lakh in total, but now neither my money nor interest is coming."

One of the depositors, Mousumi Dutta, who lodged a police complaint, said Tahsin used to take money from investors in the name of trading.
"I invested ₹19 lakh in his company in phases since May 2024. He paid me interest till February this year but after that he stopped," said Dutta.

The complainants said Tahsin gave them time till October to refund their money. "But when I, along with some investors, went to his house on October 18, Tahsin refused to return our money and misbehaved with us. He forced us to leave," said Dutta.
Tahsin and his father Shakil were not found at their Asansol residence.

Police said they have received complaints and have started a probe.

In a social media post, which The Telegraph did not verify, on October 20, Tahsin admitted collecting money and "apologised" for not repaying the amount to the depositors.