Kolkata, Nov 14 (IANS) West Bengal Panchayat Affairs and Rural Development Minister Dilip Ghosh on Saturday claimed that Sumit Roy, the executive assistant to Trinamool Congress (TMC) National General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee, is safe only as long as he remains in custody and alleged that he would be murdered by TMC insiders the day he is released because he possesses sensitive secrets.
Ghosh, a former BJP state president and national vice-president, made the remarks in response to a recent writ petition filed before the Calcutta High Court by Roy’s wife, Sushmita Roy. In her plea, she accused the West Bengal Police of custodial torture and expressed apprehension that her husband could be killed in a staged police encounter.
“Such baseless allegations are nothing new. Previously, such things have been said several times by both Mamata Banerjee and Abhishek Banerjee. All I can say is that Roy is safe in police custody. Had he been outside, he would have been killed by Trinamool Congress insiders, since he knows too much,” Ghosh told reporters.
Roy was initially arrested earlier this year in connection with an alleged illegal land-grabbing case at Salboni in West Midnapore district and was subsequently remanded to judicial custody after completing his police remand.
However, earlier this month, the Diamond Harbour Police District in South 24 Parganas registered a fresh First Information Report (FIR) against Roy in connection with a multi-crore soil-theft case. Police formally showed him arrested in the new case and secured his remand from judicial custody back into police custody.
On November 5, police recovered Rs 1.02 crore in cash from a TMC party office at Sarisha in South 24 Parganas, claiming that the recovery was made based on inputs obtained from Roy during questioning.
Following the seizure, Diamond Harbour Lok Sabha MP Abhishek Banerjee alleged that the Sarisha party office had been vandalised by BJP-backed miscreants five months ago and accused the police of planting the cash there. He also alleged that Diamond Harbour police officials were threatening Roy with a fake encounter to pressure him into giving statements implicating him.
–IANS
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