Bhubaneswar: With a local court allowing the Enforcement Director (ED) to take Archana Nag and her husband Jagabandhu Chand on remand for six and nine days respectively, the couple is likely to be grilled together in connection with the proceeds of the alleged honeytrap racket at the agency’s office in Odisha capital on Wednesday.
The ED also arrested Archana under Section 19 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act after the end of the previous 7-day remand on Tuesday. The agency sought further custody of the main accused in the racket as it could not elicit any credible information from her. She reportedly kept mum throughout the seven days. This despite the fact that Archana had told media that she would fully cooperate with the ED and give ‘earth-shattering leads to the investigators’.
The couple is accused of amassing over Rs 30 crore by blackmailing high-profile people, including politicians, businessmen and filmmakers using sexually explicit videos. The ED has so far traced Rs 2.5 crore deposited in the accounts of Archana and Jagabandhu between 2017 and 2022.
Sources added that agency is likely to interrogate Archana and Jagabandhu in connection with their bank transactions.
It is pertinent to mention here that the grilling of Gangadhar Samal, brother of BJD MLA from Dhenkanal Sudhir Kumar Samal, revealed that Archana had transferred Rs 35 lakh into the bank account of Empreo Prestige in 2020 to purchase a luxury car but later cancelled it. Gangadhar is the managing director of Jaguar Land Rover showroom – Empreo Prestige at Pratap Nagari in Cuttack
The money was reportedly deposited for the missing ‘Ford Endeavour’, which was later found abandoned in Mancheswar industrial estate area.
Notably, the ED had earlier arrested one of their associate businessman Khageswar Patra and grilled more than 10 people in connection with the case.
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