MEDINIPUR:
The West Bengal CID has secured eight days’ custody of Sumit Roy, an aide of Trinamool Congress leader Abhishek Banerjee, in connection with an alleged illegal government land sale case in Paschim Medinipur district.
A district court granted the CID’s request for Roy’s custody after the investigating agency said his interrogation was necessary as part of the ongoing probe and alleged that he had not cooperated during earlier rounds of questioning.
Roy was produced before the court in Medinipur town on Friday amid tight security. He had earlier been taken to the state-run SSKM Hospital in Kolkata for a medical examination.
A large number of police personnel were deployed around the court premises during his production.
The CID arrested Roy on Thursday shortly after the Supreme Court refused to grant him anticipatory bail in the case relating to the alleged illegal conversion and sale of government land at Salboni using forged documents.
Roy was arrested from a Trinamool Congress office-cum-residence at Kalighat Road in south Kolkata, a premises allegedly associated with Abhishek Banerjee, the party’s national general secretary.
The Supreme Court had earlier directed Roy to cooperate with the investigation. The state government, however, alleged that he had failed to adequately assist the probe.
Former TMC MLA Sujoy Hazra had earlier been arrested in connection with the case. Investigators subsequently traced financial transactions allegedly linked to Roy during the probe following Hazra’s interrogation, sources said.
Roy had been summoned by the CID several times and the agency had also searched the Kalighat premises in June while looking for him.
His arrest has triggered a political confrontation between the ruling BJP and the TMC. Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari and other BJP leaders have targeted Abhishek Banerjee over Roy’s alleged role in the case.
Adhikari announced Roy’s arrest in the state Assembly and described him as an “extortionist”. Union Minister Sukanta Majumdar and BJP MLA Sajal Ghosh also alleged that the investigation could eventually reach the TMC leadership.
The TMC, meanwhile, accused the BJP government of pursuing “revenge politics” and questioned the timing of Roy’s arrest. The party alleged that the action was aimed at targeting Abhishek Banerjee, who was abroad for medical treatment with the permission of the Supreme Court.