The charge sheet names Sumit Roy, personal assistant of TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee, as the mastermind of the alleged Salboni land scam
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CID said Roy remains a prime suspect whose role, modus operandi and financial transactions are under continuing scrutiny. The charge sheet names four primary accused: Hazra, in custody; Paira, on court bail; and two absconding individuals — Kailash Agarwal and Sarfuddin Khan — against whom arrest warrants have been issued. Download the TOI App.
Midnapore: CID’s Sept 2 charge sheet in the Salboni land scam case names two former personal security personnel of Trinamool national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee as key witnesses, alongside a 20-person witness list that includes Sujoy Hazra’s drivers, land brokers and locals. It alleges that under instructions from Roy and Hazra, accused Anitesh Paira and associates occupied the land, using fake names and addresses on deeds while forcibly evicting local farmers who had cultivated the plots for years after 2021. Investigators traced approximately Rs 7 crore deposited into a bank account linked to Roy between 2018 and 2021, which he was allegedly unable to explain during interrogation.
Two Syedpur residents, Arjun Manta and Anup Tudu, confirmed witnessing direct exchanges between Hazra and Roy.
Multiple witnesses — including Hazra’s drivers, land brokers Debashis Dey and Subrata Bera, and Banerjee’’s former security guards — stated that Hazra regularly delivered proceeds from the land fraud to Roy’s office on Camac Street, according to the charge sheet. “They have alleged that they did not disclose the matter earlier due to fear,” the charge sheet states, noting the statements are being assessed alongside other evidence. Roy’s lawyer Agnish Basu disputed the allegations, saying that when Hazra and Roy were confronted together before the Supreme Court, “Hazra completely denied sending any money to Roy, which is also recorded on video.”
The charge sheet identifies Banerjee’s personal assistant Sumit Roy as the mastermind of the racket, which involved the fraudulent transfer and sale of govt land originally allocated to refugees for farming.