The West Bengal Criminal Investigation Department on Friday produced Trinamool Congress leader Abhishek Banerjee’s aide Sumit Roy before a court in Paschim Medinipur in connection with an alleged illegal government land sale in Salboni, officials said.
Roy was taken to the Medinipur court after undergoing a medical examination at the state-run SSKM Hospital in Kolkata earlier in the day. The CID is expected to seek his custody for further questioning in the case, according to officials. A large police presence was deployed around the court complex, located about 130 kilometres from Kolkata, ahead of the production.
The CID arrested Roy on Thursday, shortly after the Supreme Court declined to extend his interim protection from arrest and refused to grant him anticipatory bail. The case concerns allegations that government land in Salboni was illegally converted and sold using forged documents.
The Supreme Court had earlier directed Roy to cooperate with the investigation. The state government told the court that he had not adequately assisted the probe. Roy was arrested from a Trinamool Congress office-cum-residence at 121 Kalighat Road in south Kolkata, a premises associated with Banerjee, the party’s national general secretary.
The investigation had previously led to the arrest of former Trinamool Congress MLA Sujoy Hazra. Investigators later traced financial transactions allegedly connected to the case to Roy after questioning Hazra, sources had said. Roy had been summoned several times by the CID during the investigation. The agency also searched the Kalighat premises in June while looking for him.
The allegations centre on the conversion and sale of government land through documents that investigators claim were forged. The available report does not establish the final ownership status of the disputed land or quantify the area and value involved. The allegations have not been adjudicated, and Roy’s production before the court does not determine his guilt.
The arrest has also intensified a political confrontation in West Bengal. BJP leaders, including state leaders Suvendu Adhikari, Sukanta Majumdar and Sajal Ghosh, have targeted Banerjee over Roy’s alleged role. Adhikari, while announcing the arrest in the state Assembly, described Roy as an “extortionist”. The Trinamool Congress has accused the BJP government of pursuing “revenge politics” and questioned the timing of the arrest, saying Banerjee was abroad for medical treatment with the Supreme Court’s permission.
The immediate next step is the court’s decision on the CID’s request for custody and the agency’s further investigation into the alleged land transactions, documents and financial links.
