Kolkata, Nov. 10 -- The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday deferred hearing a petition seeking protection for Sumit Roy, a close aide of Mamata Trinamool MP Abhishek Banerjee, amid allegations that police threatened to stage a fake encounter to extract a confession from him in connection with a Rs 1.02-crore cash seizure in Diamond Harbour.
Justice Saugata Bhattacharyya directed that the matter be placed before the Regular Bench after the court reopens following the vacation.
The decision came after Advocate General Surojit Nath Mitra informed the court that Roy was already in custody and the investigation was underway.
Roy's wife, Sushmita Ghosh, approached the court alleging that her husband was being pressured to take responsibility for the cash allegedly recovered from a premises formerly used by the TMC in Diamond Harbour.
The petition claimed that Roy was taken to the premises, where he allegedly saw police personnel arranging and counting bundles of currency. He was subsequently made to wear a black mask and pose beside the cash during a press conference addressed by the Additional Superintendent of Police (Zonal), which announced the seizure.
Ghosh alleged that the criminal cases against her husband were politically motivated and followed the change of government on May 4. She sought an independent Special Investigation Team under the supervision of a retired High Court judge to probe alleged custodial intimidation, fabrication of evidence and coercion. Advocate Biswaroop Bhattacharyya appeared for her.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.