ED attaches Rs 2.78 crore assets of former Kolkata cop in land-grab case

Résumé détaillé

The Enforcement Directorate attached properties linked to former Kolkata Police officer Santanu Sinha Biswas. The action intensifies the probe into alleged land grabbing, corruption and money laundering.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday provisionally attached immovable assets worth Rs 2.78 crore belonging to former Kolkata Police deputy commissioner Santanu Sinha Biswas in a money laundering and corruption case involving alleged strongman Sona Pappu, officials told news agency Press Trust of India.

The assets, which the agency described as proceeds of crime, include three flats in Kolkata and a plot of land in Kandi in Murshidabad district. They belong to Biswas, his family members and associates.

Biswas held several important positions in Kolkata Police during the previous Trinamool Congress government. He also served as the officer-in-charge of Kalighat police station, under whose jurisdiction former chief minister Mamata Banerjee's residence is located.

The ED arrested Biswas in May in connection with an alleged money laundering case linked to a land-grabbing racket. He is currently in jail.

“The ED investigation has revealed that the proceeds of crime were generated through illegal activities, including extortion, grabbing of real estate properties and unauthorised building construction through entities controlled by Biswajit Poddar alias Sona Pappu, Jay S Kamdar and associates,” the agency said in a statement quoted by PTI.

Biswas is accused of receiving financial benefits running into several crores of rupees from private entities and businessmen in exchange for extending illegal favours while in office.

“During his tenure as the officer-in-charge of Kalighat, he developed a close association with Jay S Kamdar and assisted him in illegal activities. Kamdar enjoyed massive clout within the police establishment through his association with Biswas,” the statement said.

“Biswas directly and indirectly acquired, concealed and possessed proceeds of crime to the tune of at least Rs 2.89 crore,” it added.

Kolkata Police has separately registered a case against Biswas on its own initiative under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

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