By Soumitra Nandi

Kolkata: Acclaimed actor Shahrukh Khan, the owner of Red Chillies Entertainment has decided to return Rs 10 crores that his company had taken from the Rose Valley to the Enforcement Directorate(ED). The company has already communicated its decision to refund the entire amount with the name of Red Chillies cropping up in the ED investigation against the Rose Valley group. Shahrukh had expressed his embarrassment over the episode.

The ED had started its probe against the Rose Valley six months before the CBI began its investigation. The ED had quizzed an official associated with the accounts department of Red Chilies who had confessed of taking Rs 10 crores in two installments from the Rose Valley group. The official also said that his company is willing to refund Rs 10 crores. 

According to ED sources, while examining the balance sheet of the Rose Valley in August 2014, after SEBI had accused the company of illegally raising public money, it was found that the Red Chilies had entered into an agreement with Rose Valley as co sponsor. As per the agreement of three years made in 2010, the Kolkata Knight Riders jersey sported the logo of Rose Valley while playing in the Indian Premier League. Shahrukh Khan and a number of players of the team had also campaigned for Rose Valley’s luxury resort at Mandarmani in East Midnapore district of West Bengal.

ED sources indicated that the entire amount was paid in the first two years. The agreement did not last in the third year.” Rose Valley group in these two years had made brisk business of raising public money keeping Shahrukh and his team at the forefront,” said an ED official. 
The ED sleuths did not rule out the questioning of Shahrukh in this regard.” We are examining all the documents that we have gathered during the probe against the Rose Valley. A final decision will be taken once we have finished looking through all such papers,” added the official.

According to sources, the official of the Red Chillies accounts department Niladri Saha who was interrogated recently had also been asked to furnish all documents pertaining to its agreement with the Rose Valley. We have found out that Rose Valley has used public money while sponsoring Shahrukh and his KKR team. 

Before the Red Chilies, the authorities of the Swami Narayan temple at Bishnupur in the South 24 Parganas district of West Bengal had also agreed to pay Rs 10 crores to ED. The name of the shrine was embroiled during ED’s investigation in the multi crore Saradha scam.