While rejecting his bail plea, a city court on Friday extended the judicial custody of West Bengal Transport Minister Madan Mitra, arrested in the Saradha scam, till Jan 16.
Mitra was presented before the court of judicial magistrate MK Roy on the expiry of his earlier judicial remand and after hearing both the prosecution and the defence, the court extended the minister’s custody.
Earlier on December 19, Mitra’s bail plea was rejected by Kolkata’s Alipore court and the TMC leader was remanded to custody till Friday.
That was the third time Mitra’s bail plea was denied.
Following a Supreme Court order, CBI arrested Mitra on 12 December. The minister was charged with conspiracy and misappropriation of funds. Mitra is considered to be Mamata’s right-hand man and his arrest made things worse for the already sour ties between BJP and Trinamool Congress.
Following Mitra’s arrest, rallies were held in Kolkata where the chief minister launched a scathing attack on the BJP.
Pulling no punches in her attack against BJP for allegedly pursuing “political vendetta” against TMC, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had charged that the CBI was being used as a “political tool” by the NDA government and was functioning as “a department of the PMO”.
