[Watch] Face-To-Face Grilling Of Odisha Honeytrap Kingpin Archana, Hubby & Aide Shradhanjali Today!

Bhubaneswar: The sex and extortion scandal accused Archana Nag’s ally-turned-foe Shradhanjali Behera arrived at the Enforcement Directorate (ED) office in Odisha capital on Saturday. This is her third appearance.

The agency is likely to grill her face-to-face with Archana and her husband Jagabandhu Chand, who are in its custody and have divulged much on the racket, sources said.

The agency took Archana again on 6-day remand since it reportedly failed to elicit any credible information about her suspicious money transactions in the first phase of interrogation. She has been in judicial custody since her arrest by Khandagiri police on October 6. Her husband was arrested by police on October 21 and the court allowed ED to take him on 9-day remand for interrogation.

Meanwhile, the agency has seized a diary belonging to Archana and it is expected to shed light on the racket and her victims and the money exchanged.

Notably, a case against Archana, Jagabandhu and their associates Shradhanjali and Khageswar Patra under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act on November 2. Archana and Khageswar have also been arrested in this connection.

Shradhanjali had been avoiding summons and not cooperating in the probe. While refusing to grant her interim protection, the Orissa High Court earlier this month had asked her to cooperate with the ED.

Archana had allegedly deposited a significant amount of money in Shradhanjali’s bank account. The latter had accused Archana of forcing her into prostitution and luring people to extort money from them by blackmailing.

The ED is probing the proceeds of the crime. Archana along with her husband 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.

The ED on Tuesday officially arrested Nag in connection with the money laundering case registered against her, Chand and two others, Khageswar Patra and Sradhanjali Behera, on November 2. Nag has been in judicial custody since her arrest by Khandagiri police on October 6. Her husband Chand was arrested by police on October 21. The agency officially arrested her today and applied for her 7-day police remand. The court granted the ED to take Nag on 6-day remand. They want to interrogate her further. Against the request of 15-day remand of Chand, the court granted 9-day police remand, Nag’s lawyer Debasis Mahapatra said.