Kolkata: Trinamool Congress leader and chairman of Halisahar municipality in North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal, Raju Sahani, was remanded to 14 days of judicial custody by a special court at Asansol on Thursday.
He will be presented at the same CBI court on September 22.
Sahani, allegedly a beneficiary of a chit fund entity, Sanmarg Cooperative, was on Friday evening arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) sleuths from his residence at New Town on the northern outskirts of Kolkata.
Cash worth Rs 80 lakh and an unlicensed pistol was also recovered from there. The CBI sleuths also traced the details of a bank account held by him in Bangkok, where huge sums were transferred in phases.
Sahani’s counsel Soumen Chattopadhyay and Pradip Kar moved bail petition on behalf of his client on Thursday.
They argued that the CBI had not been able to furnish any specific proof about Sahani’s direct involvement with Sanmarg Cooperative. They also argued that since Sahani is a businessman in private life the amount of cash recovered from his residence was natural.
However, objecting to the bail plea CBI’s counsel Shivendra Sachan claimed that the investigation officials have traced the existence of three corporate entities owned by Sahani in Hong Kong and Thailand.
He also claimed that a bank account has also been traced at Thailand which is being held jointly by Sahani along with a close associate of Soumyraup Bhowmik, the absconding founder of Sanmarg Cooperative.
The CBI counsel also pointed out that the investigation officials have also got some definite proof that Sahani provided safe shelter to Bhowmik at his residence at a point of time.
“So, in such a situation if the accused is granted bail, there is a high chance that he might try to tamper evidence and influence the witnesses,” the CBI counsel argued.
Finally, after hearing both sides, the judge of the special CBI court remanded him to judicial custody for 14 days.
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