Abhishek Banerjee’s aide Sumit Roy held as Supreme Court rejects bail plea in land grab case

Sumit Roy, personal assistant of Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee, was arrested on Thursday, immediately after the Supreme Court dismissed his anticipatory bail plea in the Salboni land-grab case. According to Crime Investigation Department (CID) sources, they received inputs that Roy was staying near Abhishek Banerjee's residence.

A heavy police force comprising CID and Special Task Force (STF) had surrounded the Kalighat residence of the MP to nab Roy, who had come there in the morning. The CID team, along with the videographer, first surrounded the house and searched all the alleyways and narrow lanes to ensure that Roy could not escape.

Officials were also seen standing at the two to three entry gates of the house to ensure that Roy could not escape. Then a huge team of the CID, along with women officers, entered Banerjee's residence. The CID immediately kept the car ready, and the CID officers brought out Roy after formally informing him that he was being placed under arrest.

The police took Roy to the CID headquarters, Bhawani Bhawan, after which, according to sources, he would be taken for a medical examination. Roy is expected to be produced before Midnapore court on Friday, where the police would seek his custody.

CID sources said their officials, working in disguise, had been keeping a close watch on Roy’s movements for several days and were stationed outside his residence. The moment the Supreme Court refused to intervene and vacated the protection granted to Roy, the CID moved into action.

Supreme Court Chief Justice Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V Mohana on Thursday refused to intervene in the Calcutta High Court’s order denying pre-arrest protection to Roy. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta had previously informed the bench that it was necessary to take Roy into custody as he was not cooperating with the investigation regarding the illegal sale of government land.

Sumit Roy had appeared before the CID 11 times and faced 88 hours of interrogation in several cases, out of which nine times he had been summoned in the Salboni land scam. The Calcutta High Court on August 3 rejected Roy's anticipatory bail plea in the alleged government land fraud case being investigated by Salboni police.

The case was registered under offences related to cheating, criminal breach of trust, forgery, use of forged documents, and criminal conspiracy. The allegation was that Roy, along with other influential leaders, had sold acres of government land after splitting it into small plots.

According to CID, they are investigating the money trail in the entire scam and how much money was involved. Tanusree Bose is a dedicated journalist reporting for The Indian Express from Kolkata. Her work focuses sharply on the complex administrative, political, and judicial developments across West Bengal, establishing her as an authoritative voice in regional news coverage.

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