rgentine footballer Lionel Messi, the star attraction of a 2011 friendly football match between Argentina and Venezuela at Kolkata's Salt Lake Stadium, refused to take the field unless he was paid Rs 20 crore as his fee. It was then that Saradha group boss Sudipto Sen came up with the money and saved the day. It was part of his Rs 2,500 crore chit fund scam money. Sen also arranged to pay for the other players who refused to refused to play unless their fees were settled in advance.

The Central Bureau of Investigation has come to know of this from a photograph showing Sen handing over the money to an influential Trinamool Congress leader at the stadium. The photograph was captured by TMC's Rajya Sabha member Kunal Ghosh on his mobile phone camera. Ghosh, who has been expelled by his party, is in CBI custody along with Sen.

The match was played in August 2011, three months after the TMC assumed power in West Bengal. It was a time when Saradha's rate of money mobilisation was at an all time high.

The football match was organised by the Celebrity Management Group, an event management company, but failed to elicit interest among big sponsors. When asked about the match immediately after the Saradha boss' arrest last year, West Bengal Sports Minister Madan Mitra told the media, "The match was organised by an event management group. It was not a state government event, so it does not matter who sponsored it."

In between his visits to the court from prison after his arrest, Kunal Ghosh has been asking assembled journalists why others known to the Saradha boss should not be questioned about the scam. After his first interrogation by the Enforcement Directorate in Kolkata, Ghosh said in front of journalists: "If you ask about Sudipta Sen's rise, ask Madan Mitra."

However, Mitra, who headed the Saradha's employees' union, reacted: "People in glasshouses should not throw stones."

The CBI interrogation of Sudipto Sen's deputy, Debjani, has revealed that she managed payouts to several influential people in politics and financial monitoring bodies.