Former Enforcement Directorate officer surrenders, sent to police custody

Kolkata: Former Enforcement Directorate officer Manoj Kumar was on Wednesday remanded to police custody till May 12 after he surrendered before a city court in connection with an extortion case that allegedly revealed his links with the accused in the Rose Valley chit fund scam.

Kamal Somani, a chartered accountant, had lodged a complaint at Shakespeare Sarani police station here, alleging that money had been extorted from him following raids led by Kumar at his firm.

Kumar, the investigating officer in the Rose Valley case, was removed from the position by the ED after the Kolkata police, probing the charges of extortion against him, found CCTV footage which purportedly showed the ex-ED officer with Shubhra Kundu, the wife of Rose Valley Group head Gautam Kundu, at a Delhi hotel.

Rejecting Kumar's bail plea, 5th Special Judge, Bankshall Court, Debabrata Sinha sent him to police remand till May 12 after he surrendered earlier in the day.

Kumar's anticipatory bail pleas had earlier been rejected by the Supreme Court and the Calcutta High Court.

Rejecting his anticipatory bail plea on March 28, the apex court had directed Kumar to surrender within a week.

He has been booked for extortion, criminal conspiracy and under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

Rose Valley, whose operations were spread over several states, is being probed by the ED under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.