CBI raids houses of TMC MLA, brother

KOLKATA:  The CBI on Sunday conducted raids at the houses of Trinamool Congress legislator Subodh Adhikary and his brother Kamal Adhikary who is the chairman of Kanchrapara municipality, in North 24 Parganas in connection with a chit fund scam in West Bengal. The raids followed the arrest of TMC leader Raju Sahani, the chairman of Halisahar municipality, on Friday.

The case dates back to 2014. The CBI took over the case from the police in 2018 on the Supreme Court’s order. It filed a charge sheet in 2020 and a supplementary charge sheet in March, mentioning misappropriation of Rs 11.2 crore deposited by investors.

“On Sunday, raids were conducted at the Adhikary brothers’ houses. We came across their names after interrogating Sahani, who was arrested after recovery of Rs 80 lakh cash and an unlicensed firearm from his residence. We found links between them,’’ said a CBI officer.

“Three apartments at Lake Town, Tallah Park and Patipukur in Kolkata were searched and documents were seized,’’ the officer added. On Friday, the CBI also recovered documents related to investment of Rs 2.75 crore in Bengal and Bengaluru, land deeds of 1.5 hectares and transaction details from Sahani’s house.