Bhubaneswar: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) Thursday sought time from Orissa High Court to file a reply on Jagabandhu Chand’s bail petition. Chand is money laundering and sextortion case accused Archana Nag’ husband.
The top court of the state today asked ED to file its response on the bail plea.
Justice V Narasingh heard the matter and directed ED to file its reply on the next hearing.
Earlier, Jagabandhu’s lawyers Biswachandan Mohanty and Jayadeep Pal had filed the bail petition in Orissa High Court.
Jagabandhu was arrested October 21 last year after a girl named Shradhanjali lodged an FIR at Khandagiri police station October 2, 2022. She had accused Archana, Jagabandhu and their associate Khageswar Patra of trapping her in their racket, forcing her into prostitution to blackmail bigshots.
The ED is investigating financial transactions of the honeytrap racket. Archana and her husband allegedly accumulated assets worth over Rs 30 crore in just four years by extorting money from influential persons through blackmail and honeytrap.
Orissa High Court had granted bail to Archana Nag April 12 in the alleged sextortion case involving film producer Akshay Parija. The case was registered at Nayapalli Police Station in Bhubaneswar September 30, 2022.
However, Archana will remain behind bars as two more cases are pending against her. The two cases pending against her include the ED case and the Shradhanjali case.
PNN