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.
Biswas has been accused of colluding with Sona Pappu and businessman Jay Kamdar in an alleged racket that illegally occupied several valuable plots of land in Kolkata over an extended period.
According to the allegations, Biswas used his position in the police to intimidate and harass vulnerable landowners into surrendering their properties. The ED has claimed that the alleged syndicate grabbed land in different parts of Kolkata and generated proceeds of crime worth at least Rs 50 crore.
In July, the ED filed a charge sheet in the land-grabbing case, alleging that it had found evidence directly implicating Biswas in the misappropriation of around Rs 3 crore.
The latest action covers assets worth Rs 2.78 crore as the ED continues its investigation into allegations of money laundering, corruption and land grabbing involving Biswas and his alleged associates.
– Ends
With inputs from PTI
