Bhubaneswar: Hours after arresting Khageswar Patra in Odisha capital, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) was on Friday allowed to take the key accused in the honeytrap racket of Archana Nag and her husband Jagabandhu Chand on remand for ten days.
The court of the District Judge of Khurdha granted the ED permission to take Patra on remand for ten days for further questioning in connection with sensational lady blackmailer case.
The premier investigating agency had sought 15 days remand of Patra, who was arrested following simultaneous raids at six places. He happened to be the business partner of the couple.
Patra was taken into custody following Thursday raids and 20 hours of marathon grilling, which revealed financial transactions between Archana and him. The central agency unearthed bank transaction links since 2017 and seized mobile, computer, hard disk, incriminating material and a vehicle from his possession.
Jagabandhu sold used cars with his friend Patra. He had reportedly invested a huge amount in the showroom after Patra expanded his business by building a used car showroom at Hansapal, on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar.
With the couple having been accused of amassing over Rs 30 crore in just 4 years by extorting a huge amount of money from high-profile people including political leaders, ministers, businessmen and other bigwigs, the ED recently registered a money laundering case against them and their two associates — Patra and Sradhanjali Behera.
Archana and Jagabandhu are lodged in Jharpada Special Jail after being arrested by Khandagiri police on October 6 and October 20 respectively. The fourth accused in the case, Sradhanjali had alleged that the trio forced her into prostitution-cum-extortion racket.
According to the police, the couple was extorting money in lakhs and crores by threatening to leak intimate videos of its victims. Odia film producer Akshay Kumar Parija had claimed that Archana demanded Rs 3 crore from him and threatened to ruin his career and reputation by circulating his obscene photos/videos in the media.
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