ED arrests Sona Pappu in land grab case

Kolkata: Biswajit Poddar alias Sona Pappu, accused in a land grab scam being probed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), was arrested on Monday after the central agency allegedly found him evasive and non-cooperative during questioning.Pappu, a history-sheeter who had been absconding for a long period, appeared before the ED's CGO Complex office on Monday accompanied by his wife. After nearly eight hours of questioning, he was taken into custody. He is expected to be produced before the special PMLA court on Tuesday.Before entering the ED office, Pappu denied all allegations levelled against him. "I was never involved with bombing or extortion. My father was into jewellery business and I have the same business. I was never involved with any real estate project," he said.Earlier last month, the ED had arrested Joy S Kamdar, an aide of Pappu, in connection with the same case. Deputy commissioner of police Santanu Sinha Biswas, who was allegedly involved in the scam, was also arrested by the agency on Friday.Rejecting allegations of forcibly acquiring land, Pappu also denied having spoken to Santanu Sinha Biswas. "I was in my house all along. I have never occupied any big post in the party," he said.Admitting that he knew Joy S Kamdar, Pappu added, "He has no relationship with him other than friendship." He said he had appeared before the agency because officials wanted to "meet him".Meanwhile, ED officials on Monday confronted former South Dumdum Municipality chairman Pachu Roy with former minister Sujit Bose in connection with the ongoing municipal recruitment scam probe.Roy, who served as chairperson of the South Dumdum Municipality between 2015 and 2020, had earlier been questioned by the agency. The appointments under scrutiny were made in 2017, and Bose has been accused of alleged irregularities in the recruitment process.