SI Pain remanded to CID custody, sleuths on path to unravel cobwebs of graft case

Kolkata: Association with former top-cop Bharati Ghosh proved expensive for Sub-Inspector Rajsekhar Pain, as the police officer was remanded in the custody of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), when produced before the Midnapore Court on Wednesday.

Pain, who is known to have been close to the former IPS officer, was arrested on Tuesday in connection with the misappropriation of Rs 45 lakh of a businessman, Eunus Ali.

Police had taken away Rs 45 lakh cash from a car, while probing into an accident. Later, when the businessman went to retrieve his money, the police officers refused to return the amount.

Subsequently, Eunus took necessary legal steps and police arrested Pain, who was then the Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Kharagpur local police station.

Interestingly, sources said that during a raid, police had found cash and even some jewellery, inside a water reservoir. After the development on Tuesday, police have further intensified raids in a bid to unmask the other players involved in the scam.

The CID sleuths would attempt to extract more information about the misappropriation case during interrogation.

It may be mentioned that some other police officers who were also close to Ghosh, have suffered a similar fate as Pain. They were arrested in connection with the Daspur incident, in which allegations of cheating after taking gold from local traders, had cropped up against senior police officers, including Ghosh.

This comes at a time when the investigating officers have intensified the search operations to reach the root of the money trail in this connection.

It may be recalled that gold was taken from a section of jewellery shop owners in Midnapore by assuring a high rate of return and it was done after demonetisation, highlighting some police officers as the face of the entire scheme.

However, some of the traders didn't get the lofty promised returns and sought the court's intervention as initially, the local police hadn't taken up the case. Following the court's order, CID had initiated a probe and arrested some police officers including Pain, who were close to the former IPS officer.