Ex-minister Indranil Sen arrested after ED questioning
Indranil Sen, a Trinamool Congress leader and former West Bengal minister, found himself in police custody on Wednesday evening right after leaving the Enforcement Directorate (ED) office at the CGO Complex in Salt Lake following hours of interrogation.
Sen arrived at the ED office at 1:00 PM for his third round of questioning. At 5:06 PM, officers from the Kolkata Police detective department escorted him into a police vehicle amid a heavy security presence. Additional Commissioner (Crime) Kunal Agarwal confirmed that officers transported him to the police headquarters at Lalbazar for further questioning.
The investigation centers on irregularities involving the sale of Durga Puja preview passes, originating from a complaint filed at the Bowbazar police station. A senior police official stated that the alleged fraud involves Rs 34 crore, though investigators are still verifying the exact sum and tracing the money trail. Initially, the ED suspected the figure might range between Rs 50 crore and Rs 60 crore. As part of the probe, the agency raided multiple locations linked to Sen, including his residence in Kasba and a country house in Singur.
Sen’s arrest followed a series of legal setbacks. The Calcutta High Court rejected his bail plea, and when his legal team approached the Supreme Court for protection on Tuesday, Justice Dipankar Datta recused himself from the case.
Reacting to the arrest, Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari claimed the investigation could implicate other high-ranking figures, including former chief minister Mamata Banerjee—a remark that drew sharp criticism from the Opposition.
