Bollywood superstar and Trinamool Congress MP Mithun Chakraborty on Tuesday returned the money he had received from scam-tainted Saradha Group for hosting a TV programme.
Chakraborty's counsel Biman Sarkar submitted a bank draft of ₹1,19,88,560, to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) which is probing the money trail in the multi-crore-rupee scam.
"Chakraborty was paid professional fees of ₹1.76 crore for hosting the TV show 'Bangla Bolchay songe Mithun'. Today (Tuesday) he returned that money after deducting the tax that he had to pay," Sarkar said after depositing the draft with the ED officials here.
Sarkar said the agreement with the actor was for a year for an amount of Rs.2 crore.
"ED officials earlier asked if he (Chakraborty) could voluntarily return the money. So he returned that money as it belongs to the poor," the counsel added.
Chakraborty is among several parliamentarians of West Bengal's ruling Trinamool Congress who have been grilled by the ED and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which too is probing the scam.
The CBI in its chargesheet has indicted several Trinamool leaders, including state Transport Minister Madan Mitra, in the scam that came to light in April 2013.
