Headlines
Saradha scam: Arrested ex-union minister sent to judicial custody
Kolkata, Feb 1
Former union minister Matang
Sinh, arrested by the CBI for his alleged complicity in the
multi-crore-rupee Saradha chit fund scam, could not be presented in
court Sunday as he was admitted to a hospital. He was later sent to
judicial custody till Feb 13.
The court of acting Additional
Chief Judicial Magistrate S. Chakraborty ordered Sinh -- who was
admitted to the state-run SSKM Hospital -- to be sent to judicial
custody till Feb 13 after the prosecution presented documents regarding
his custody.
The former minister of state for parliamentary
affairs in the P.V. Narasimha Rao-led Congress government (1991-96) was
arrested Saturday on charges of criminal conspiracy, cheating and
misappropriation of funds. He was subsequently hospitalised after he
complained of illness.
The counsel for the Central Bureau of
Investigation informed the court that Sinh would be presented once he
was released from hospital.
"After his arrest, Matang Sinh
complained he was unwell. He is now under treatment at the SSKM
Hospital. We have intimated the court that he is in hospital and we will
present him in court once he is released from the hospital," the CBI
counsel told the media.
The counsel also pleaded before the court that it should consider the plea for remand once Sinh was presented before it.
"We
will seek either police or judicial custody for him once he is brought
to the court from custody. We have also prayed before the court that it
should seek a report about his health from the SSKM hospital."
The
defence counsel urged the court to grant bail to Sinh as he was a liver
transplant patient and unwell due to related complications.
Saradha
Group chief and purported scam kingpin Sudipta Sen, now behind bars, in
a letter to the CBI, had accused Sinh of cheating him of Rs.28 crore on
the promise of a 50 percent stake in a media house owned by the former
Congress MP from Assam.
Sen had also accused Sinh's wife
Manoranjana of duping him of Rs.25 crore in return for some shares in a
TV channel owned by her.
The CBI earlier grilled Manoranjana besides attaching Sinh's properties and raiding his offices and residences.
The
Enforcement Directorate, which too is probing the scam, had
interrogated Sinh about his alleged links with Sen and the Saradha
group.
Sinh's arrest came a day after the CBI grilled Trinamool Congress general secretary and former railway minister Mukul Roy.
Probing
the multi-crore-rupee scandal that came to light in April 2013, the CBI
has arrested a host of influential people, including Trinamool Rajya
Sabha member Srinjoy Bose, former IPS officer Rajat Majumdar, West
Bengal Transport Minister Madan Mitra and Assamese singer Sadananda
Gogoi.