Saradha scam: Matang Sinh sent to CBI custody

Former union minister Matang Sinh, arrested by the CBI for his alleged complicity in the multi-crore-rupee Saradha chit fund scam, was Saturday sent to five days CBI custody by a court here.

Arrested Jan 31, Sinh was subsequently admitted to a hospital. Following his failure to appear before the court owing to illness, he was Feb 1 sent to judicial custody.

However, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), during the day, obtained a stay on the order of his judicial remand from a higher court and presented him before the court of Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (in-charge) Manikuntala Roy seeking his custody for seven days.

Sinh's counsel pressed for his bail on health grounds contending he was a a liver transplant patient and has developed several complications following his surgery.

The CBI opposed his bail claiming he was a beneficiary of the Saradha Group of companies and his custodial interrogation was imperative.

After hearing both the parties, the court remanded Sinh to CBI custody till Feb 11.

Saradha Group chief and purported scam kingpin Sudipta Sen, now behind bars, in a letter to the CBI, had accused the former minister of state for parliamentary affairs in the P.V. Narasimha Rao-led Congress government (1991-96), of cheating him of Rs.28 crore.