Kolkata Port Trust chairman R P S Kahlon, a senior IAS officer, was today remanded by a city court to police custody for eight days following his arrest from a five-star hotel here for allegedly taking Rs 20 lakh bribe.
Judge Debabrata Sinha at Bankshall Court rejected the bail plea of Kahlon, a 1984-batch IAS officer ofWest Bengal cadre, and also D D Jagtap Dattaji who was arrested for allegedly paying the bribe.
The judge noted that the investigation was at a nascent stage and said that the material collected by the investigating agency prima facie supported its case.
Both Kahlon and Dattaji were directed to be in police remand till March 17 and be again produced before the court on that date.
Kahlon’s counsels, seeking bail, claimed that the question of any gratification did not arise as the money was not recovered from his possession.
The counsel claimed that Kahlon had an unblemished career in the civil service for over three decades.
Opposing the bail prayer, chief public prosecutor Tamal Mukherjee submitted that the investigation was at a preliminary stage and that more documents were likely to be recovered in connection with the case.
He alleged that Kahlon had been given Rs 20 lakh as illegal gratification by Dattaji, who is an advisor/ director of Bharat Calcutta Containers Terminal Limited and a resident of Mumbai.
Mukherjee stated that Rs 11 lakh in cash was recovered from Dattaji’s room in the hotel.
He prayed for 14 days’ police custody of both the accused, who have been charged under section 120B of IPC (criminal conspiracy) and various provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.
Kahlon and Dattaji were arrested last night from a five-star hotel at Esplanade in the heart of the city by the sleuths of the Kolkata Police.
( Source – PTI )
