Indian Ocean band members Rahul N Ram and Amit Kilam have responded to the police complaint filed against them by former member Susmit Sen and Sunita Chakraborty, wife of former member Ashim Chakraborty. Sen and Chakraborty have filed the complaint with allegations of alleged criminal conspiracy, criminal breach of trust, cheating, embezzlement, falsification of accounts, money laundering, embezzlement, etc.

The band members wrote in a statement, “We were saddened to learn from the media that Mr. Susmit Sen (former Indian Ocean member) and Ms. Sunita Chakraborty (wife of former Indian Ocean member Asim Chakraborty) have filed a police complaint against us.” They added, “We have not yet seen a copy of the complaint and therefore cannot address it on its merits.”

He also claimed that a case is already in process for more than a year and a new criminal complaint appears to be a way to put pressure on the current band members to meet their demands.

“There is a case pending between the shareholders in the NCLT (National Company Law Tribunal) for over a year now. That case is still in process, and thus everything therein is sub-judice. It is therefore quite surprising to us that a police complaint has been filed on the same issue considered by the NCLT. Filing a criminal complaint on what is clearly a civil law issue appears to be an afterthought and an attempt to coerce us into accepting their illegal and unreasonable demands,” the statement said.

Ram and Kilam concluded by writing, “Nevertheless, we will fully cooperate with the police in any investigation they conduct. We are well aware that the complaints are essentially frivolous and malicious and we are fully confident about the legitimacy of all the procedures we follow.”

First, Sushmit Sen had shared a statement regarding the complaint He and Chakraborty filed a complaint and said, “As we have stated in the police complaint, we believe they have committed offences such as criminal conspiracy, breach of trust, fraud against the Registrar of Companies (ROC), fraud against officers and mismanagement, among others. I have not been paid my royalties since 2020. I also found out that I was being underpaid for a few years since I left the band in 2013.”

Although a complaint has been lodged with the police, an FIR has not been registered yet.