Sr cop Santanu ‘part of extortion racket’, sent to 14-day ED custody

Kolkata: The ED on Friday told a special PMLA court in Kolkata that DCP Santanu Sinha Biswas, arrested at 10.40pm on Thursday, was part of an organised land-grab and extortion syndicate involving illegal land deals, transfer of OCs and threats to genuine builders. The court remanded him to ED custody till May 28.ED said the syndicate functioned like a trident: Land dealers like Joy Kamdar allegedly entered sale pacts and later backtracked to force distress sales, criminals like Sona Pappu allegedly intimidated victims while police officers led by Biswas allegedly used control over postings and fake FIRs to pressure targets. Such cases were lodged at Kalighat, Ultadanga, Rabindra Sarobar and Phoolbagan, ED said.ED counsel Dheeraj Trivedi alleged that Biswas, former OC of Kalighat and Hare Street police stations, used his influence to help run the extortion racket through criminal intimidation. ED said landowners were threatened by local goons, and those resisting undervalued sales faced delayed agreements by Kamdar and fabricated criminal charges through Biswas. As police welfare nodal officer, Biswas allegedly built a network and influenced transfers of police personnel.The agency cited chats and bank records recovered from Kamdar as evidence linking Biswas, Kamdar and political figures from the previous administration. ED sought 14 days' custody to confront Biswas with digital evidence, examine his phones and establish his role.It also flagged Rs 21 lakh spent on modernising Biswas's ancestral home in Kandi, a Rs 1-crore transaction involving his son and a university, and alleged businesses in his wife's and son's names, including canteen contracts at five medical colleges. Biswas's lawyer Sabbir Ahmed denied all charges, called the wealth inherited and denied links to Sona Pappu.