Kolkata, Sept. 11 -- A special court in Paschim Medinipur on Friday remanded Sumit Roy, the Personal Assistant (PA) to TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, to eight days of Criminal Investigation Department (CID) custody.
The court order came a day after a joint team of the West Bengal CID and state police arrested Roy from Banerjee's office-cum-residence on Kalighat Road in South Kolkata.
The arrest was executed on Thursday, hours after the Supreme Court dismissed Roy's anticipatory bail plea. The apex court also lifted the interim protection that had been saving him from arrest. On Friday, he was taken to the Midnapore Court under tight security. The case against Roy involves a multi-crore land scam in the Salboni area of West Midnapore.
According to state prosecutors, large tracts of government land were fraudulently converted and sold to private buyers. Investigators allege that forged title deeds and government stamps were used to facilitate the illegal transfers.
The prosecution told the court that Roy's custodial interrogation is essential to uncover the broader conspiracy and identify other influential figures involved in the racket.
The defence counsel however, did not even file a bail petition on Friday. Instead the lawyer appearing for Roy appealed for a stipulated time to meet Roy during his interrogation sessions.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.