Saradha scam accused MP sent to judicial custody

A city court on Friday turned down the claims of suspended Trinamool Congress MP and Saradha scam accused Kunal Ghosh about a threat to his life in jail and remanded him to judicial custody till December 3.

Arrested for his alleged complicity in the multi-crore-rupee scam in November 2013, Ghosh, through his mother, had filed a police complaint that he was tortured by the Presidency Correctional Home authorities and that there was a conspiracy to get him killed.

Ghosh, who has alleged complicity of several top Trinamool leaders in the scam, was on a hunger strike for 38 days to demand a fair probe and prosecution of all those involved in the scam.

He withdrew his 'fast unto death' on Tuesday after a city court decided to review his appeal of a fair probe into the scam.

Presented before the court of Metropolitan Magistrate Arvind Mishra on Friday, Ghosh reiterated his claims on death threats.

However, the court, which earlier in the month ordered a report from the correctional home authorities on Ghosh's health condition, turned down his claims as baseless and remanded him to judicial custody till December 3.

He has often alleged that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee along with eight Trinamool MPs and six state ministers were direct beneficiaries of the Saradha scam.

Claiming that the CBI probe into the scam was being "influenced", the Rajya Sabha member in May wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to seek his intervention in the matter.