Kolkata: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday arrested Kolkata Police Deputy Commissioner Shantanu Sinha Biswas in connection with a criminal-linked syndicate case.
The ED had been questioning Shantanu at the CGO Complex in Kolkata since Thursday morning after the police officer appeared before agency officials for interrogation.
He was arrested after being questioned for more than 10-and-a-half hours and will be produced before a court on Friday.
The ED had summoned Sinha Biswas, former Officer-in-Charge of Kalighat Police Station, several times for questioning as part of its money laundering investigation into an alleged criminal-linked syndicate run by Sona Pappu alias Biswajit Poddar.
However, he had repeatedly skipped the ED summons.
The ED had also issued a lookout notice against Shantanu for repeatedly avoiding appearance before the agency.
Investigators wanted to ensure that he could not leave the country.
According to sources, investigators found certain financial transactions linked to Shantanu Biswas involving Sona Pappu and his close associates.
Shantanu Biswas was also linked to documents recovered from businessman Joy Kamdar, who was arrested on charges related to financial transactions in the same case.
Incidentally, last month, the ED had conducted raids at Shantanu’s residence on Fern Road in connection with the Sona Pappu case.
The search operation began in the early hours and continued till around 2 a.m., when the investigating officers finally left the Deputy Commissioner’s residence.
Shantanu Biswas was not seen in public during the raid.
A day after the searches, the ED summoned Shantanu Biswas and his two sons, Sayantan and Manish, to the CGO Complex.
However, none of them appeared before the agency that day.
In April, the ED had also summoned Shantanu in connection with the sand smuggling investigation.
However, he did not appear before the agency on that occasion either. Instead, his lawyer visited the ED office.
According to sources, Shantanu Biswas had sought time from the central agency, citing official engagements.
Shantanu appeared before the ED office on Thursday and was arrested at around 9.30 p.m.
(IANS)
