Kolkata: Sumit Roy, personal assistant to Trinamool Congress national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, was arrested from Banerjee’s Kalighat residence on Thursday, less than 90 minutes after Supreme Court dismissed Roy’s anticipatory bail plea in the Salboni land-grab case.This was the second time that cops were at Banerjee’s home to arrest Roy. The first unsuccessful attempt was made in June. Banerjee is currently in the US for treatment of his eyes following a Supreme Court order permitting the travel.Roy’s arrest in the afternoon came in a dramatic fashion with personnel from two elite Bengal police units — CID and STF — dressed in both uniform and mufti surrounding Banerjee’s residence and sealing off all nearby lanes and by-lanes to prevent an escape.The operation began shortly after 1 pm when a police team marched up to Banerjee’s residence and knocked on the doors. A separate team visited Roy’s home about 2 km away. As security guards at Banerjee’s house opened the gates, a minor argument ensued. Twenty minutes later, Roy emerged dressed in a white shirt and black trousers and was immediately surrounded by the cops. He was escorted to a police vehicle and taken to SSKM Hospital for a mandatory medical examination.Within a few minutes, chief minister Suvendu Adhikari announced the arrest in Assembly: “Sumit Roy, a well-known extortionist, has been arrested. Shortly after his bail was rejected by Supreme Court, the state CID apprehended him from Trinamool party office at 121 Kalighat Road. Roy is tolabaz bhaipo’s (extortionist nephew’s) primary collector,” Adhikari said.Roy was later transferred to CID headquarters Bhabani Bhawan and will be produced before Midnapore court on Friday, officials said.Reacting to the arrest, senior Trinamool MLA Sovondeb Chattopadhyay said, “Roy is not one of us and was never a member of our party.”Roy is a key accused in the Salboni land scam that involves illegal acquisition of govt land by reclassifying plots, drawing up forged title deeds and executing fraudulent sale agreements. After Calcutta High Court rejected his anticipatory bail plea, he had won interim protection from the apex court. However, an SC bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V Mohan on Thursday withdrew the interim protection, clearing the way for his arrest. The bench observed that Roy had been given sufficient opportunity but had failed to cooperate with the investigation.The CID has accused Roy of withholding information during interrogation, despite being summoned 11 times and questioned for about 88 hours. Investigators claim around Rs 71 lakh was deposited in his account in June, with total transactions exceeding Rs 15 crore, raising serious questions about the source of the funds.Following the change in govt in May, cops had arrested former Trinamool MLA from Midnapore, Sujoy Hazra, in connection with the land scam. His interrogation revealed a chain of money transfers that allegedly led to Roy. Roy is also being investigated for a job scam in West Midnapore’s Debra.
