The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrested Trinamool Congress (TMC) politician and Halisahar Municipality chairman Raju Sahani on Friday in connection with a chit fund scam. During the raids at Sahani’s home, the CBI confiscated Rs 80 lakh in cash. The CBI apparently tracked accounts in international banks and discovered documentation for properties worth Rs 2.75 crores.
West Bengal | CBI arrested TMC Leader & Halisahar Municipality Chairman, Raju Sahani in chit fund case. Rs 80 lakh in cash recovered. Accounts traced in foreign banks. Documents of Property worth Rs 2.75 crores found: CBI Sources
— ANI (@ANI) September 2, 2022
Earlier outside visuals from Raju Sahani’s house pic.twitter.com/MfXtfAWbfB
An inquiry has been launched into the matter, according to officials. Raju Sahani is reported to have been arrested in connection with a Ponzi scheme probe. A shotgun with live bullets was also recovered from his home. Meanwhile, the CBI alleges that Sahani and others misappropriated money from a firm named Sanmarg Welfare Organization.
Notably, Sahani was arrested on the same day that Trinamool MP and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s nephew and TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee was interrogated for seven hours by the Enforcement Directorate in the alleged coal pilferage scandal. Abhishek Banerjee is the Trinamool Congress’s national general secretary and the Lok Sabha member from Diamond Harbour.
The TMC is already under fire after the arrests of Partha Chatterjee and Anubrata Mondal by the Enforcement Directorate and the CBI, respectively. Partha Chatterjee was denied bail on August 31 by a PMLA special court and was placed in judicial imprisonment for 14 days. The PMLA court also extended the judicial detention of Chatterjee’s partner, Arpita Mukherjee, by 14 days.
In response to a request from the Enforcement Directorate (ED), which is looking into the suspected money trail in the School Service Commission appointments scandal, Judge Jibon Kumar Sadhu approved the pair’s judicial custody till September 14.
