ED arrests Kolkata DCP Santanu Sinha in alleged extortion case

The ED suspects that Kolkata Police Deputy Commissioner Santanu Sinha Biswas was allegedly involved in running an extortion syndicate with the help of "Sona Pappu" and Jay Kamdar, the managing director of Sun Enterprise.

In Short

• Lookout circular issued against senior Kolkata Police officer before arrest
• ED links Santanu Biswas to allegation extortion racket involving Sona Pappu
• ED claims Biswas suppressed facts and failed to cooperate during probe

Kolkata Police Deputy Commissioner Santanu Sinha Biswas was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday in a money laundering case linked to an alleged extortion and land-grabbing racket.

The ED claims the racket was run by wanted criminal Biswajit Podder, also known as “Sona Pappu”, along with businessman Jay Kamdar. Investigators suspect Biswas helped the group operate the network.

Biswas appeared before the ED in Kolkata on Thursday after skipping several summons issued by the agency. According to ED sources, he was arrested after investigators found him allegedly withholding information and not cooperating during questioning.

The agency had earlier sent multiple notices asking him to join the probe. After he failed to appear, the ED on Wednesday sought help from the Directorate of Security to trace his whereabouts.

The case is based on a Kolkata Police FIR against “Sona Pappu”, who faces several criminal charges, including extortion, rioting, attempted murder, criminal conspiracy and Arms Act violations.

According to the ED, Podder and his associates allegedly ran an organised crime network involved in extortion and other illegal activities, generating large amounts of illegal money.

As part of the investigation, the ED had raided Biswas’s Ballygunge residence and his Fern Road flat last month. Searches were also conducted at properties linked to businessman Jay Kamdar in Behala. Officials said several important documents were recovered during the raids.

During earlier searches on April 1, the ED seized Rs 1.47 crore in cash, gold and silver worth over Rs 67 lakh, and a country-made revolver.

Podder, who is also wanted in connection with a violent incident near Golpark in south Kolkata, is currently absconding and has not joined the investigation despite repeated summonses.

Biswas, a former officer-in-charge of Kalighat Police Station, had earlier also come under the ED scanner in the illegal coal mining case. He is additionally being examined in a separate probe linked to alleged irregularities in NRI quota admissions at private medical colleges, including KPC Medical College.

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