CBI custody of former Bengal top cop extended

A lower court Tuesday sent Trinamool Congress leader and former top cop Rajat Majumdar to CBI custody for another three days in connection with the multi-crore-rupee Saradha chit fund scam case.

The Chief Judicial Magistrate of Alipore Court extended Majumdar's Central Bureau of Investigation custody till Sep 19 following a plea by the agency which is probing the scandal.

Majumdar, arrested by the CBI Sep 9, was remanded to five-day custody of the agency by the court Sep 11.

Earlier, Majumdar was put under deemed judicial custody after he had to be hospitalised following complaints of chest pain immediately after his arrest.

Describing his arrest as politically motivated, Majumdar had last Thursday said that the CBI will not be able to extract any confessions from him or prove the charges against him.

Arguing himself before the court, Majumdar even claimed that the CBI will not be able to prove he provided Saradha money to top Trinamool leadership.

Majumdar's name cropped up after suspended Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha member Kunal Ghosh, now behind bars, accused him of swindling crores of rupees in organising a cultural programme in Las Vegas in 2012.

Majumdar, who worked as a security advisor for the Saradha group, joined Trinamool Congress in recent years, and served as the party's poll observer for Birbhum district for the 2013 panchayat election.

Besides grilling Majumdar many times, CBI sleuths raided his residence and seized many documents Aug 14.