'Torture', cries Kundu

Kundu outside Jalpaiguri court on Monday. Picture by Biplab Basak

TT, Jalpaiguri, Nov. 30: Gautam Kundu, the disgraced chief of the Rose Valley Group being investigated for cheating several lakh investors, today banged his head and injured himself inside the court lock-up in Jalpaiguri, saying that he was being tortured by jail authorities and would start a fast-unto-death to protest his mistreatment.

Kundu, brought to Jalpaiguri today in connection with a case filed by an investor of Rose Valley, was in the middle of speaking to journalists who had gathered in the court this afternoon.

"I am facing intense mental torture in correctional homes. Despite being an industrialist, I have been kept with common thieves and miscreants. I protest such steps by the authorities and will launch a fast-unto-death agitation from today," Kundu said. "I have nothing to lose, but lakhs of depositors who have invested in my company would face problems if I die. I am determined to return their money at any cost."

He banged his head on the metal rods of the lock-up and got a cut on his forehead. Policemen who were guarding Kundu stopped him.

Kundu, who is in jail custody, claimed his company had adequate funds to clear the dues of all investors. "The Enforcement Directorate has stopped transactions in around 3,000 bank accounts of Rose Valley," he said.

Senior jail officials in Calcutta today said if Kundu lodges a specific complaint with the authorities, it would be probed. "The complaint has to specify names of those whom he believes to be responsible for the torture. Then it would surely be probed," said a senior jail official.

Kundu has been lodged with the Alipore central jail.

Several agencies such as the Sebi, ED, SFIO and the CBI have filed cases against Kundu and are investigating his businesses now.

According to court sources, Sunil Kumar Majumdar, a Jalpaiguri resident who had deposited money with Rose Valley, had filed a complaint at Kotwali police station on October 12 this year, alleging that the company did not return his cash totalling around Rs 2.60 lakh.

"Today, his case was heard in the chief judicial magistrate's court," Subrata Sarkar, Kundu's lawyer, said.

Later in the evening, Kundu was sent back to Calcutta with police escort.