Kolkata, October 31, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
Investigators probing the alleged fake Durga Puja pass scam involving tours marketed under the UNESCO tag are planning to question Madhuchhanda Sen, wife of arrested former West Bengal minister Indranil Sen. Her company is alleged to have sold the passes linked to the controversy.
The move follows the arrest earlier this week of Indranil Sen, a former Tourism Minister and former Minister of State for Information and Cultural Affairs, in connection with the alleged scam. Investigators suspect that the fake passes were sold through Mass Art, a corporate entity owned by his wife.
However, Kolkata Police will not be able to take Madhuchhanda Sen into custody during questioning, as the Calcutta High Court has granted her anticipatory bail in the case.
Police sources said a decision is yet to be taken on whether she will be summoned to the Kolkata Police headquarters at Lalbazar in central Kolkata or whether investigators will visit her residence to question her as part of the ongoing probe.
The investigating team is also examining the bank accounts of Sen, his wife, their daughters and some close relatives, a police source said. Investigators are looking into whether shell companies were floated or used to divert funds allegedly collected through the operation.
Indranil Sen is currently in police custody and is being questioned for several hours each day. He is scheduled to be produced before a city court again on November 10. He is the fifth former minister of the previous Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress government in West Bengal to be arrested.
During arguments before the city court, the public prosecutor said Mass Art, owned by Madhuchhanda Sen, had signed an agreement with UNESCO in 2025. The prosecutor alleged that the organisation had marketed and sold Durga Puja tour packages using the UNESCO tag between 2022 and 2025, despite restrictions on commercial use of the organisation’s logo.
The prosecutor further told the court that money was transferred to the former minister’s bank account on the same day that collections were deposited into Mass Art’s account.
Kolkata Police and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) are conducting parallel investigations into the alleged fake pass scam linked to tours of the festival marketed under the UNESCO tag.
Sen was arrested by city police earlier this week after emerging from the ED’s Salt Lake office on Kolkata’s northern outskirts, where he had undergone marathon questioning in connection with the same case.
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