Kolkata, February 25 – A legal notice has been served on Soham Chakraborty, a Bengali actor who is now a Trinamool Congress MLA, over alleged failure to repay money borrowed for a film project, sources said on Wednesday.
According to sources, the notice was issued after Chakraborty allegedly failed to return the money he had borrowed from an individual for producing a Bengali film.
Sources within the Trinamool Congress said that this development has caused embarrassment to the party, especially as the Assembly elections are approaching.
Sources said that Chakraborty had borrowed ₹68 lakh from Shahid Imam for the proposed production of a Bengali film.
However, they claimed that the full amount was not repaid despite assurances.
Responding to the development, Chakraborty said that he would repay the money and described the timing of the notice as politically motivated.
"I will return the money. This has been discussed earlier. Such a notice has been sent to tarnish my image before the elections," Chakraborty told reporters.
According to sources, a written agreement was signed between Shahid Imam and Soham Chakraborty on July 29, 2021, for the production of a Bengali film titled ‘Manik Jod’.
As per the agreement, Shahid Imam had agreed to invest ₹1 crore in the project, and in the first phase, he paid ₹68 lakh to Chakraborty.
However, the film was not made, and the project did not progress beyond the initial stages, including script finalisation and scheduling of the shoot, sources claimed.
Sources also said that Shahid Imam was arrested in 2023 in connection with the teachers’ recruitment case.
At that time, Shahid Imam had told mediapersons that Chakraborty returned ₹25 lakh in two instalments but did not repay the remaining amount.
According to sources, the outstanding amount is approximately ₹43 lakh.
Following this, a legal notice was issued seeking repayment of the dues.
Chakraborty said that he had already discussed repayment with Shahid Imam and expressed surprise over the issuance of the legal notice, particularly ahead of the Assembly elections.