Kolkata, 19 September (H.S.): Sumit Roy, an aide to Trinamool Congress leader Abhishek Banerjee, is being produced before the Medinipur Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) Court on Saturday after completing eight days in police custody in connection with the Shalboni land scam case.

Along with Roy, three other accused arrested in the same case — Amit Ghosh, Nitya Roy and Lakshmikanta Bhuiya — are also being produced before the court. The entire court premises has been placed under tight security.

It remains unclear whether the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) will seek further custody of Sumit Roy. CID officials are reportedly travelling from Kolkata to Medinipur in connection with the hearing.

On Thursday, Roy’s wife had approached the court seeking permission to meet her husband. However, the court rejected her plea.

The Supreme Court had earlier cancelled Roy’s protective relief and rejected his anticipatory bail plea. Following the court's order, the CID arrested him in connection with the Shalboni land case. He was arrested from Abhishek Banerjee’s residence in Kalighat while Banerjee was reportedly abroad for medical treatment.

According to allegations by a section of the investigators, Roy had not been cooperating with the investigation and had allegedly avoided answering several key questions during questioning. The investigators had cited this as one of the reasons for seeking action against him.

Earlier, former Trinamool Congress MLA Sujay Hazra had also been arrested in connection with the Shalboni land case. The CID has already submitted a 14-page chargesheet naming four people, including Hazra. Sumit Roy’s name does not appear in the existing chargesheet.

The CID has indicated that Roy’s name may be included in a supplementary chargesheet. The agency has also told the court that further questioning of Roy is necessary and that it intends to submit a supplementary chargesheet in the case.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Priyanka Pandey