Kolkata, 11 October (H.S.): Former Bihar-based NDA leader Rajeev Ranjan Kumar has been arrested in West Bengal for allegedly running a multi-crore fraud racket, officials said on Saturday. He was apprehended by Bidhannagar Police in Bihar, where he had been absconding for several weeks.

Police sources stated that Kumar contested the 2020 Bihar Assembly elections from the Sasaram constituency as a candidate of the Bharatiya Sablog Party but lost. Subsequently, he settled in Kolkata’s Salt Lake area and allegedly ran a fake business to defraud multiple people of substantial sums of money.

The Bidhannagar Police Commissionerate’s intelligence wing tracked and arrested him during the investigation of two separate fraud cases registered in September. Both cases are filed at Salt Lake East Police Station.

In the first case, registered on September 7, Kumar is accused of defrauding retired Calcutta High Court judge Indrajit Chattopadhyay of approximately ₹4.5 crore through false pretenses. Police said he allegedly misled the victim with fabricated explanations to acquire the money.

The second case, registered on September 14, involves alleged forgery of property documents worth ₹1 crore in CD Block, Salt Lake. A resident of AJ Block filed the complaint, accusing Kumar of manipulating property documents to sell the asset illegally.

Upon sensing that the police were closing in, Kumar reportedly fled to Bihar. The Bidhannagar Police formed a special team and conducted a raid to apprehend him there.

A senior official from the Bidhannagar Police Commissionerate said on Saturday, “Two separate fraud cases have been registered against him. The investigation is ongoing.”

Police are now working to identify other individuals involved in the alleged fraud network, and further arrests are expected in the coming days.

Hindusthan Samachar / Satya Prakash Singh