Saradha boss Sudipta Sen back in ‘safe’ police custody

On Saturday, Sen had a smile on his face as he was taken to Dum Dum jail after 24 days in police custody. The Bidhannagar Police had surprisingly not sought an extension of remand.

KOLKATA: The Saradha scam brings new twists and turns every day. After a single night in jail, Saradha boss Sudipta Sen realized he was better off in police custody and pleaded in court on Sunday that he be moved back in police remand "so that he can help investigators".

The court agreed, but the South 24-Parganas police sprung another surprise — they said they would prefer to keep him in New Town police station where he spent the last 24 days.

Police did not say how they would solve the logistical problem of interrogating Sen at New Town, which is some 30km from Baruipur police station, which is investigating three cases against him.

On Saturday, Sen had a smile on his face as he was taken to Dum Dum jail after 24 days in police custody. The Bidhannagar Police had surprisingly not sought an extension of remand. A few days before this, he had submitted an affidavit in high court, giving a clean chit to the Trinamool government, praising the New Town police and opposing a CBI plea. This was a U-turn from his April 6 letter to the CBI where he said he had no faith in police.

TOI spoke to several veteran police officers who were surprised by Sen's preference for police remand. "My experience is that the accused always avoid police custody," said one of them.

Sen was produced in Baruipur court around 1pm on Sunday. "He requested to be remanded in police custody because he wanted to help the investigators as well as refund the money of investors," one of Sen's lawyers said. Samir Das, who is leading Sen's legal brigade, confirmed that they did not oppose the prosecution's petition for police custody according to the wishes of Sen. Magistrate Debdeep Manna remanded him and co-accused Arvind Chauhan in the custody of South 24-Parganas police for 10 days but the police said they would keep him in New Town.

During the hearing, Sen tried to convince the court that he was being framed and that some of his employees had betrayed him. He looked happy, smiled often and even answered media queries. Sen claimed that former employee Arindam Das alias Bumba of Baruipur had swindled crores from Saradha by forging vouchers and receipts. He told reporters that he was easily duped because he was "not comfortable with money marketing chemistry". When asked if ministers and powerful politicians were on his payroll, he refused to name names. "Wait for three months. Everything will be clear. I will share the names with police only," Sen said.

On his way out, the police van carrying van was gheraoed by hundreds of duped agents and depositors. Eight of the protesters were injured as police resorted to a lathicharge to disperse the mob. One of them, Rahim Dhali of Mograhat, suffered a serious head injury.