Former West Bengal minister Indranil Sen arrested in Durga Puja ticket scam

He faces allegations of financial irregularities and had been reportedly avoiding the police for a while

Updated - October 29, 2026 05:48 pm IST - KOLKATA

Former West Bengal minister Indranil Sen arrives at the Enforcement Directorate (ED) office. File | Photo Credit: PTI

Former West Bengal Minister Indranil Sen was arrested by Kolkata Police on Wednesday (October 28, 2026) evening in connection with a Durga Puja ticket scam case. Mr. Sen, a minister during the Mamata Banerjee administration, had been summoned for questioning at the Enforcement Directorate (ED) office. He was arrested by the State Police immediately after leaving the ED’s office.

Mr. Sen, who faces allegations of financial irregularities, had been avoiding summonses by the ED and police. He was questioned by the ED at their office in the CGO Complex in Salt Lake for over 4 hours on Wednesday (October 28). Officers of the Kolkata Police Detective Department and Bidhannagar Police maintained a tight cordon around the ED office while he was being interrogated. Mr. Sen has been questioned several times before.

“Ex-MIC Indranil Sen has just been picked up by Kolkata DD Special Cell team in MassArt case,” a statement from the Kolkata Police said. The former tourism and culture minister was denied anticipatory bail by the Calcutta High Court.

Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari said that Mr. Sen had been under investigation for a while. “He was the blue-eyed boy of the CPI(M), then he changed sides with the times, but the doors of the BJP are closed to him; we are not like other parties. We arrested him on the basis of evidence,” Mr. Adhikari said, adding that all “such thieves” will end up behind bars.

Mamata-Trinamool Congress general secretary Abhishek Banerjee said, “Under the BJP those who refuse to sell their conscience are the ones being sent to jail. Meanwhile, thieves and fraudsters are forgiven for even the gravest crimes as soon as they take up the BJP flag.”

The controversy is focused on MassArt, which was established after Durga Puja received the UNESCO intangible cultural heritage tag in 2021. Two years later, allegations of irregularities linked to Mr. Sen’s dealings with organisation surfaced. The outfit is headed by his wife Madhuchanda Sen.

Other MassArt officials are also entangled in these allegations and have been named in the FIR. A case was filed in this connection at the Bow Bazaar Police Station.

The complainant, Jaydeep Mukherjee, alleged that Mr. Sen had misused UNESCO’s name and his position in the Government to wrongfully secure money from people under the MassArt banner.

ED officials said that their investigation was started based on the FIR filed at the Bow Bazaar Police Station.

“It is alleged that the accused falsely represented their organisation as UNESCO sponsored, and collected huge sums of money from the general public through MassArt between 2022 and 2025. Thereafter the said money was used for personal gain,” the ED said in an official statement.

The ED investigation also alleged that Mr. Sen used the platform for personal financial gains and may have made several business deals with Dhruvjyoti Bose, a close associate of Mr. Sen, and secretary of MassArt.

“Approximately ₹30 lakh was transferred from the bank account of Octave Records, a company owned by Indranil Sen, through banking channels to Mamata Banerjee, former Chief Minister of West Bengal, which Indranil Sen claimed was intended to be paid as royalties,” the ED statement said.

Mr. Adhikari has also alleged that if Mr. Sen stole money, he must have “shared the proceeds with former CM Ms. Banerjee” because they were close associates.

Multiple properties linked to Mr Sen have also been raided and searched by the ED as part of this investigation. His wife and other associates named in the FIR are also under the scanner.

This is the fifth arrest from among the previous government’s list of ministers; the first was Sujit Bose, who was arrested by the ED immediately after the BJP came to power in West Bengal. He faces allegations of involvement in a job recruitment scam.

Published - October 28, 2026 09:52 pm IST

Bengal / Kolkata / corruption & bribery

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