Kolkata 8 September : Trinamool Congress leader and chairman of Halisahar municipality in North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal, Raju Sahani, was sentenced for 14 days of court confinement by a special court in Asansol on Thursday.He will be in the same CBI court on the 22nd of September.
Sahani who is believed to be an alleged beneficiary of an entity that is a chit fund, Sanmarg Cooperative, was on Friday night arrested by Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) investigators at his home in New Town on the northern edge of Kolkata.
A cash sum of Rs 80 lakh and a non-licensed pistol was also found there.The CBI detectives also traced the information of the bank account owned by the suspect in Bangkok where massive amounts were transferred in stages.
Sahani’s lawyer Soumen Chattopadhyay and Pradip Kar submitted a bail petitions on behalf of his client on Thursday.
They asserted that the CBI could not be able to provide any specific evidence about Sahani’s involvement with Sanmarg Cooperative.The group also claimed that because Sahani is an entrepreneur in private life, the amount of cash retrieved from his home was normal.
However, in protest to the bail plea, CBI’s counsel Shivendra Sachan claimed that investigators have discovered the existence of three corporate entities that are owned by Sahani in Hong Kong and Thailand.
He also said that the bank account has been located in Thailand which is owned jointly by Sahani together with an friend of Soumyraup Bhowmik the absconding founder of Sanmarg Cooperative.
The CBI counsel also noted that the investigators have also uncovered evidence that Sahani offered a safe place for Bhowmik at his home at a certain point of time.
“So, in such a scenario, if the suspect is granted bail and is released, there is a great possibility that he may try to alter evidence and influence witnesses,” the CBI counsel stated.
After hearing both sides the judge of the special CBI court ordered him to the judicial custody for 14 days.
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