Six persons, including an assistant sub-inspector of police and a police constable, were arrested on Friday evening on charges of snatching ₹1 crore from a Delhi-based railway contractor in Durgapur.

Police said the arrested included Ashim Chakraborty, an ASI posted at Durgapur police station, Chandan Choudhury, a constable at the bomb squad of the CID in Durgapur, and expelled police constable Mrityunjoy Sarkar.

The six were produced in the additional chief judicial magistrate’s court in Durgapur on Saturday. The court remanded Chakraborty, Choudhury and two others in five days of judicial custody. Sarkar and another arrested person were sent to police custody for five days.

“We have received a complaint from a Delhi-based businessman that some persons had snatched ₹1 crore in cash from him on NH19 in Durgapur, while he was travelling to Calcutta in his car. After a preliminary investigation, we arrested six persons, including two police personnel. We have collected the CCTV footage from the area and the investigation is on,” said Abhishek Gupta, deputy commissioner of police (east) of Asansol-Durgapur police commissionerate.

Sources said Mukesh Chawla, a resident of Delhi and an enlisted railway contractor, had said in his complaint that some persons in plainclothes had waylaid his car and claimed they were officers of the Crime Branch of Bengal police. He said the car had been stopped near a Kali temple at Piyala in Durgapur on Thursday night.

“They searched Chawla’s SUV and found a large amount of money in a wooden box. They told the businessman that carrying such a large amount in cash was illegal and they would seize it,” said an investigating officer.

The businessman then told them that he had documents of the money and it was not unaccounted for.

“When he told them that he was carrying the money for business purposes, they snatched the box and asked Chawla to leave or else they would arrest him,” said the investigating officer.

Chawla initially left the place but with the help of a local person went to Durgapur police station, where he lodged a complaint early on Friday.

Chawla had come to Asansol earlier this week to meet his business partners. He was travelling with his business partner and two drivers when the “police team” stopped
his car.

Tracking the complaint, the police collected CCTV footage from the area and found the presence of Chakraborty and Choudhury, along with others. Chakraborty was initially detained and after interrogation, he and five others were arrested in the evening.

The police said the arrested included a local business partner of Chawla. He knew that the Delhi businessman would carry cash in his car.

Police sources said Chawla knew Chakraborty and the businessman had informed the police officer about carrying a large amount of cash.

Sources said Chakraborty had earlier been posted at various police stations in the Asansol-Durgapur police commissionerate and used to perform the “daak
master’s” role.

“Daak masters” are known as negotiators and collectors of “bribes” on behalf of the officer-in-charge of the police station concerned. “He had earlier been suspended for his illegal activities at different police stations as the ‘daak master’ and cautioned several times,” said a police officer.