GUWAHATI: Former Tripura Minister and CPI-M leader Badal Choudhury heaved a sigh of relief as he was granted bail by the Tripura High Court on Saturday in a multi-crore rupees scam. The police had arrested him in October from a private hospital in Agartala in connection with the `640-crore scam that occurred in the state’s Public Works Department (PWD).
The 68-year-old was booked after an FIR was lodged with West Agartala Police Station in connection with the scam. He remained untraceable for six days until the police learnt he was admitted in the ICU of the private hospital. Choudhury had moved the high court as several of his bail petitions, filed in the lower courts, were rejected. A four-time former Minister, he is the deputy leader of opposition in the Assembly.
During detention, he had to be hospitalised multiple times as his health condition deteriorated. He denied his role in the scam and described his arrest as a “political vendetta”. Besides him, a former PWD chief engineer, a former principal secretary and some others are the other alleged accused in the case.