this story originally appeared in on feb 7 2017kolkata after the trinamool congress it is the bjps turn to face the heat in the rs 17000crore rose valley group deposittaking scam investigators have traced at least three cheques amounting to more than rs 1 lakh issued in favour of the bjp in the andaman and nicobar islands during the years when the rose valley group had an active business in the area the kolkata police appears to have stepped up its probe after the central bureau of investigation last month arrested sudip bandyopadhyay the leader of trinamool congress parliamentary party in lok sabha for his alleged involvement in the rose valley group scam which is estimated to be six times bigger than the earlier saradha group scam bjps bishnu pada ray threeterm lok sabha member from the andaman and nicobar islands told et the rose valley group was doing business in andaman and nicobar and like other parties had given us donations during the operational years they had given some donation to the party fund we had taken the amount through cheques although ray said he could not recollect the amount the bjp had taken through cheques from the rose valley group he said that many such companies operated in the area and looted the people all such companies originated from kolkata he said the rose valley group with interests ranging from hospitality and real estate to film and insurance sectors has luxury properties including hotels and resorts in the islands and it collected huge sums of money under deposittaking schemes from the area people familiar with the matter said the money trail in rose valley scam and some other deposittaking businesses is also leading to a senior leader of the bjps womens wing in the state said one of the persons who did not wish to be identified earlier union minister of state for heavy industries and public enterprises babul supriyo admitted having taken professional fees from the rose valley group for musical performances the singer turned bjp politicians name cropped up after trinamool congress arrested mp tapas pal claimed that the minister was close to the rose valley group chairman gautam kundu who was arrested last year on charges of money laundering the kolkata police is probing the donations by the group to the bjp while the central agencies the cbi and the enforcement directorate have been investigating deposittaking schemes for four years and have arrested three senior mps of the ruling trinamool along with a minister of mamata banerjees cabinet