Odisha Honeytrap Kingpin Archana Sent To Jail After Court Rejects ED’s Remand Petition

Bhubaneswar: The prime accused of honeytrap racket, Archana Nag, was sent to jail as the court of Additional District Judge (ADJ) III in Bhubaneswar rejected the petition of Enforcement Directorate (ED) for her remand for two more days on Monday.

After Archana’s second remand ended on Sunday, the ED had moved the court for her remand for two more days on the ground that she was not cooperating during the investigation nor giving satisfactory answers during the interrogation. But Archana’s lawyers opposed the petition before the court stating that she and her husband Jagabandhu were fully cooperating with the agency.

After hearing both ED and Archana’s lawyers, the court rejected the petition and sent her to Jharpada jail in Bhubaneswar. The agency had taken Archana on 6-day remand for second time after it reportedly failed to elicit any credible information about her suspicious money transactions in the first phase of interrogation.

Archana has been in judicial custody since her arrest by Khandagiri police on October 6. Her husband was arrested on October 21 and the court allowed ED to take him on 9-day remand for interrogation.

Archana and Jagabandhu allegedly amassed over Rs 30 crore between 2018 and 2022 by blackmailing and threatening some politicians and rich people. The agency has already traced Rs 2.5 crore deposits in the bank accounts of the couple between 2017 and 2022.