After a marathon questioning for close to 11 hours, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday evening arrested Deputy Commissioner of Kolkata Police Santanu Sinha Biswas in connection with a fraud and extortion case, officials said.
After having skipped four summons, which had led to the ED issuing lookout notices against him, Biswas on Thursday morning reached the ED office in Salt Lake.
Nearly a month ago, on April 19, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had conducted raids at the residence of Biswas and other properties allegedly linked to him.
“He (Biswas) didn’t cooperate during questioning in connection with the probe into alleged land grabbing, extortion, and financial irregularities linked to the Sona Pappu network. He repeatedly avoided giving direct replies… Based on the material collected and his conduct during questioning, he was placed under arrest,” an ED official said.
According to an ED official, the central agency had sent Biswas five summon notices.
Biswas is alleged to have worked in a syndicate along with notorious criminal Sona Papu in Kolkata.
“WhatsApp chat leaks and digital data seized from real estate businessman Joy Kamdar, who was arrested earlier, revealed suspicious financial transactions linking Biswas to the illicit network, including an estimated Rs 2.5 crore transaction. He is simultaneously being investigated for possible involvement in separate sand smuggling rackets, illegal sand trafficking, and financial irregularities linked to a land grab case,” a senior ED official.
On April 30, the Enforcement Directorate had arrested businessman Jay S Kamdar over allegations of illegal transactions worth crores of rupees in a land-grabbing case.
According to ED sources, Kamdar, the managing director of Sun Enterprise, is accused of illegally transacting around Rs 1,100 crore.
“The agency recovered several digital devices from Kamdar’s possession, which revealed that crores of rupees were transferred to shell companies… Kamdar is closely associated with Sona Pappu… While going through the bank transactions of Sona Pappu, we found several financial transactions, including those made to the account of Biswas. Which is why he came under our scanner,” an ED official said.
“We are now trying to identify others who may be involved in this network,” the officer added.
Biswas previously served in significant posts in the Kolkata Police, most notably as former Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Kalighat Police Station, the home turf of TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee.
In March this year, the ED had summoned Biswas for questioning in the coal scam case.