Ex-TMC minister Sujit Bose's eatery earned Rs 1.11 crore in lockdown, ED tells court

The Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday arrested Sujit Bose, a Trinamool Congress heavyweight and a former fire and emergency services minister, after a 10-and-a-half-hour interrogation in connection with a municipal recruitment scam. The investigators alleged a large-scale money laundering scam and asked for a 10-day remand of the ex-minister, which was granted by a sessions court.

The central agency flagged that crores of rupees were allegedly deposited in multiple bank accounts linked to Bose and his family members, including accounts associated with his Chinese restaurant business. It questioned how one of the restaurants did a sale of Rs 1.11 crore during the COVID-19 lockdown, when the restaurant business, across the country suffered a major blow.

“When the entire country was facing lockdown due to the pandemic, his Chinese restaurant received Rs. 1.11 crore in its account, which is nothing but money laundering,” ED told the court.

It also pointed fingers at several suspicious cash transactions, including deposits of Rs. 68 lakh, Rs. 1.75 crore, and Rs. 1.79 crore into accounts linked to Bose’s businesses.

In addition, the counsel argued that Bose had failed to satisfactorily answer several questions during interrogation and warned that releasing him could seriously hamper the investigation.

“We have encountered him with certain questions, but he wasn’t able to answer all the questions. If we can’t take him into custody, he will go and alert other people, tamper with evidence, and our probe will be compromised,” the ED told the court.

The agency further alleged that Bose, owing to his political influence, could destroy digital evidence and manipulate documents if not taken into custody immediately.

Further, the central agency asserted that around 150 people were illegally recruited into the South Dum Dum Municipality through corrupt means. It named Ayan Shil and Nitai Dutta as alleged associates involved in the operation, describing the case as “another corruption similar to the initial recruitment scam.”

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