Asim Dasgupta (top); Somen Mitra

Calcutta, Nov. 19: The CBI today summoned the CPM’s Asim Dasgupta and the Congress’s Somen Mitra as part of its Saradha probe.

The move comes within 24 hours of the central agency calling transport minister Madan Mitra and Trinamul MP Srinjoy Bose for questioning. The CBI has also summoned textiles minister Shyamapada Mukherjee, former Congress MP Matang Sinh, his estranged wife Manoranjana Sinh and Assam Congress leader Himanta Biswa Sarma.

Former finance minister Dasgupta told The Telegraph tonight: “I have heard about some television channel having reported that I have been summoned by an investigating agency. But nobody has contacted me in this regard. These are rumours.”

Sources said the move to summon Dasgupta followed “information” that he had met Saradha chief Sudipta Sen in 2008. The meeting had allegedly been arranged by the then finance minister’s aide, Ganesh Dey. Dey has been expelled from the CPM.

The preliminary probe has revealed that Saradha Realty had collected over Rs 770 crore between 2008-09 and 2012-13. In his purported letter to the CBI, Sen had mentioned that Saradha Realty was set up in July 2008.

“But it is also true that the maximum amount of deposits were mopped up after Trinamul came to power,” a CBI source said.

Sources said the investigators would gather details on what the Left Front government had done to stop the mushrooming of illegal deposit-mobilising companies.

“I wish the CBI would call me too. Our party has done extensive research on how ponzy schemes grew in Bengal after this (Trinamul) government came to power. We had written to all investigating agencies. We also met the then Prime Minister. We can help the CBI,” said the CPM’s Surjya Kanta Mishra.

The summons to Dasgupta, who had demanded a CBI probe into the Saradha scam, comes at a time Mamata Banerjee has been alleging that Saradha started functioning and bloomed when the Left was in power.

“We want to question Somen Mitra to find out if he had influenced the Saradha Group to sponsor a soccer club in Calcutta,” said a CBI source. “We have got some information from (East Bengal official) Debabrata Sarkar and they need to be cross-checked.”