Kolkata, Jan 4 : The West Bengal government received yet another jolt on Wednesday after the Calcutta High Court ordered a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the alleged tender scam at Contai in East Midnapore district.
While directing a CBI probe into the matter, the single-judge bench of Justice Rajasekhar Mantha also granted bail to Ramchandra Panda, a close confidant of the leader of opposition in West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, who was arrested by the state police on December 28 last year in connection with the scam.
Ramchandra Panda was arrested on the basis of a complaint filed by his wife Kakoli Panda, who’s the president of a local cooperative society.
Ramchandra Panda’s counsel claimed in the court on Wednesday that the local unit of the Trinamool Congress had put pressure on Kakoli Panda to file the complaint against her husband, who has been falsely implicated in the case.
Kakoli Panda also appeared before the single-judge bench and claimed that she was forced to sign a paper and then taken to the local police station to file the complaint against her husband.
After hearing the arguments, Justice Mantha granted bail to Ramchandra Panda and also ordered that the couple should be provided with central armed forces security cover.
Ordering a CBI inquiry in the matter, Justice Mantha directed the state police to hand over a copy of the complaint on the basis of which Ramchandra Panda was arrested.
He also directed the CBI to submit a progress report of its probe within the next five weeks.
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