Abhishek Banerjees Aide Claims Safety in Custody Amid Murder Allegations

Kolkata, November 14 (Daily Kiran) : West Bengal‘s Panchayat Affairs and Rural Development Minister, Dilip Ghosh, made a striking claim on Saturday regarding Sumit Roy, an aide to Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Abhishek Banerjee. Ghosh stated that Roy is only safe while in police custody, warning that his life would be in danger from within the TMC itself if he were released.

Ghosh’s comments came in response to a writ petition filed by Roy’s wife, Sushmita Roy, in the Calcutta High Court. In her petition, she accused the West Bengal police of torturing her husband while in custody and expressed fears that he could be killed under the pretext of a police encounter.

Speaking to reporters, Ghosh dismissed the allegations as unfounded, noting that similar claims have been made by Mamata Banerjee and Abhishek Banerjee in the past. He emphasized that Roy is currently safe in police custody, asserting that if he were to be released, TMC members would likely target him due to the sensitive information he possesses.

Roy was arrested earlier this year in Salboni, West Medinipur district, over a case involving illegal land occupation. After his police remand ended, he was placed in judicial custody. However, earlier this month, the Diamond Harbour police district in South 24 Parganas registered a new FIR against him for a multi-crore case involving soil theft. Following this, police formally re-arrested him and returned him to police custody.

On November 5, police recovered ₹1.02 crore in cash from a TMC party office in Sarisha, claiming the seizure was based on information provided by Roy during interrogation. In light of this, Abhishek Banerjee alleged that BJP-backed miscreants had vandalized the party office five months ago and accused the police of planting the cash there.