ED arrests TMC confidante & close aide of Mamata Banerjee bizman & channel owner Kaustav Roy

Kaustav Roy was arrested after a marathon interrogation of around ten hours by the ED sleuths

July 18, 2023

Kolkata businessman Kaustav Roy arrested by ED for financial defalcation

Kolkata-based businessman and the chief executive officer (CEO) of a popular Bengal news channel Kaustav Roy, known for his close association with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, has been arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on charges of financial defalcation.

Sources said that Roy was summoned to ED’s office at the Central Government Office (CGO complex at Salt Lake on the northern outskirts of Kolkata on Monday morning. However, he finally reached the central agency office at around 4 p.m. and after a marathon interrogation for around ten hours, he was finally arrested by the ED sleuths at around 2 a.m.

In August last year, two teams of ED and the Income Tax departments conducted simultaneous raid and search operations at the residence and offices of Roy. At that point of time, the Chief Minister described the central agency’s actions as a ploy by BJP and the Union government to gag the media.

Roy was in the midst of a controversy in May last year after the state government formed a committee for planning and monitoring of welfare and development schemes and made Roy, with a debated background, as the chairman of the committee. However, later his name was scrapped after the then-state governor and the current Indian vice president, Jagdeep Dhankhar questioned the justification of Roy’s appointment for that crucial chair.

Roy, the Kolkata- based businessman, had been involved in multiple sectors like computer, software, and media.

In March 2018, he, as the director of RP Infosystems, was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in connection with an Rs.515 crore bank fraud scam involving a consortium of banks, including Punjab National Bank and Canara Bank.

In September 2021, a Bengali channel owned by Roy received a caution of cancellation of license from the Union Ministry of Information & Broadcasting citing the Union Ministry of Home Affairs’ denial of “security clearance“.

Trinamool Congress leadership, however, has so far maintained total silence over the arrest of Roy.

[With Inputs from IANS]

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