Former West Bengal Minister Indranil Sen, arrested by Kolkata Police on Wednesday evening in connection with an alleged fake Durga Puja pass scam linked to UNESCO-tagged festival tours, will be produced before a lower court in Kolkata on Thursday. The public prosecutor is set to seek his police custody for further interrogation into the case and related financial irregularities.

Sequence of Arrest and Medical Protocol

Sen was apprehended on Wednesday evening as he exited the Enforcement Directorate (ED) office in Salt Lake, on the northern outskirts of Kolkata, after a marathon interrogation session. According to a police source, he will first be taken for a mandatory medical examination from the Kolkata Police headquarters before being presented at the city court.

The source indicated that the public prosecutor's custody application will extend beyond the Durga Puja pass scam. 'A detailed interrogation of the former state minister is necessary to know about other beneficiaries not just in the fake Durga Puja pass scam, but also in other cases of financial irregularities where he got involved during his tenure as a member of the state cabinet during the previous regime,' the source said.

CM Adhikari's Sharp Warning

West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari responded to Sen's arrest with a pointed statement that suggested a widening net. Without naming her directly, he appeared to target his predecessor, former Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, implying that those at 'higher levels' of the previous administration would also face accountability.

'Sen made his fortune taking advantage of his ministerial position and using his proximity to the former West Bengal Chief Minister. Sen and the former Chief Minister used to sing duets in government programmes. Surely, Sen is not the only one in the previous cabinet who had made his fortune using the ministerial position. The share surely had reached the higher levels. They will not be spared either. Just wait and watch,' Adhikari said.

ED Probe and the Mamata Banerjee Angle

The Kolkata Police and the Enforcement Directorate have been running parallel investigations into the alleged scam. Earlier this month, the ED issued a statement naming former Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in connection with a transaction involving Sen-owned Octave Records. According to the agency, nearly ₹30 lakh was allegedly transferred from the company's accounts to Banerjee through banking channels. Sen, however, has maintained that the payment was made as royalty.

The Trinamool Congress (TMC) government under Banerjee had previously been associated with promoting the Durga Puja festival circuit, which received UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage recognition — lending the alleged pass scam a higher-profile dimension.

Separate Judicial Inquiry into Tender Irregularities

Independently of the money laundering investigation, a judicial inquiry commission constituted by the current state government to probe alleged institutional corruption during the previous TMC regime has also initiated proceedings involving Sen. The commission is examining alleged multi-crore irregularities in the tendering process of the state's Information and Cultural Affairs Department, where Sen had served as Minister of State.

The dual-track legal scrutiny — criminal custody proceedings on one side and a departmental tender inquiry on the other — signals that Sen's legal exposure could deepen considerably in the weeks ahead.