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This story is from August 24, 2014

Saradha: Business honcho Sandhir Agarwal arrested after nod from Delhi

In a dramatic late-night development, CBI arrested prominent Kolkata-based businessman Sandhir Agarwal — son of Sajjan Agarwal — after finding “clear evidence” of his connivance with arrested East Bengal boss Debabrata Sarkar aka Nitu in siphoning Saradha funds.
Saradha: Business honcho Sandhir Agarwal arrested after nod from Delhi
KOLKATA: In a dramatic late-night development, CBI arrested prominent Kolkata-based businessman Sandhir Agarwal — son of Sajjan Agarwal — after finding “clear evidence” of his connivance with arrested East Bengal boss Debabrata Sarkar aka Nitu in siphoning Saradha funds.
CBI director Ranjit Sinha confirmed Sandhir's arrest late Saturday night. It followed two days of intense questioning in the wake of Nitu’s arrest on Wednesday and right after Sandhir was interrogated face-to-face with Saradha boss Sudipta Sen.
According to CBI, Nitu had told Sen that Sandhir had connections with a “super VIP” in New Delhi and that they could manage regulatory bodies like Sebi and RBI if paid handsomely every month.
Sandhir, who is close to some Kolkata leaders, allegedly flaunted his political connections during interrogation on Saturday. His alleged links to a “super VIP” — one of the biggest names in Indian politics — is what perhaps led the CBI team to seek permission from its New Delhi HQ for the arrest. The CBI HQ informed home ministry, which passed it on to the “highest authority”. After a while, word came from the top to “go ahead with the arrest if you are convinced”.
Sajjan and Sandhir own Kamala Tea and Orion IT Parks with a combined turnover of around Rs 400 crore. Sources say Sajjan may also be questioned as he has turned out to be of particular interest to the investigation. The father-son duo were earlier close to the Left Front government. In 2010, Orion IT Parks had bagged an industrial hub project of the Bengal government, allegedly without filing a tender, but it was cancelled by then chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee.
According to a CBI officer, Sandhir worked hand-in-glove with Nitu in siphoning off Sen’s Ponzi cash and had a deep role in the Saradha muddle. In his purported letter to CBI, Sen had alleged that Sandhir and Nitu had been extorting money from him on the promise of keeping Sebi and RBI off his back. “Nitu, who is the de-facto secretary of East Bengal Club, met me and assured me that he would cover the Sebi matter …. He promised to do this through his close associate Sajjan Agarwal and his son Sandip Agarwal,” the letter purportedly written by Sen says.
Sandhir and Sajjan have primary membership in East Bengal club and investigators are trying to find how they were drafted at a time when the club was facing an acute financial crisis. Sandhir reportedly funded the construction of a new EB gallery when the club was cash strapped in 2010. Sen's purported letter says Nitu took Rs 5 crore from him in 2010 and that he and the two businessmen took as much as Rs 40 crore between 2010 and 2013.
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