Former Trinamool Congress councillor of the Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation, Debraj Chakraborty, who has been arrested in connection with an extortion case, is likely to be investigated for other cases that have been lodged against him, police sources said on Sunday.
Chakraborty is suspected to have cheated and extorted nearly ₹200 crore from 18 persons who have reported their cases with Bidhannagar police till Friday, sources said.
There are separate charges of disproportionate assets against him and his wife, Aditi Munshi — former Trinamool Congress MLA from the Rajarhat-Gopalpur Assembly constituency.
Chakraborty was allegedly running an “organised racket” with the help of at least four Trinamool councillors of the Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation, who the police said have already been arrested.
Sources said that once the police remand for the extortion case was over, the special investigation team would seek his custody for the case related to disproportionate assets.
The complaint of disproportionate assets has been lodged by the newly elected BJP MLA from the same Rajarhat-Gopalpur constituency, Tarunjyoti Tewari.
The couple had sought anticipatory bail from Calcutta High Court for the disproportionate assets case.
Chakraborty’s plea was turned down, but his wife’s prayer was accepted due to her four-month-old child.
Sources said that since at least 18 complainants have come forward to lodge complaints against Chakraborty, the police are in the process of combining the complaints of a similar nature into one single case.
Chakraborty was arrested last week in connection with a case pending against him.
“The case (lodged with Bidhannagar police on May 12) pertains to allegations of organised crime involving coercive land transactions, extortion, criminal intimidation, undervaluation of properties, concealment of assets, suspicious financial dealings through DC Global, and false or incomplete disclosures in the election affidavit of co-accused Aditi Munshi,” said an officer.
The police have collected documentary evidence which reportedly substantiated the organised crime angle.