Saradha accused former Union minister Matang Sinh at the Alipore court on Saturday. He has been remanded in police custody for five days. Saradha accused former Union minister Matang Sinh at the Alipore court on Saturday. He has been remanded in police custody for five days.

If former home secretary Anil Goswami's disgraceful exit for trying to influence the CBI probe against Matang Sinh, former MoS in P.V. Narasimha Rao's government, exposes the latter's inexplicable influence over senior bureaucrats, the Z-plus category security cover displays his political clout even though he was a Congress discard.

Sinh, who was arrested on January 31 on charges of criminal conspiracy, cheating and misappropriation of more than `28 crore in the Saradha chit fund scam, had been expelled from the Congress in 1998 for making disparaging comments about party president Sonia Gandhi on a TV channel. Yet, former prime minister Manmohan Singh not only kept extending Sinh's security cover but also personally intervened in placing Sinh among the list of VIPs to be provided Z category protection.

What's more intriguing is that Gandhi family loyalist Digvijaya Singh and former Bihar governor Devanand Konwar, also from Assam, even wrote letters to Manmohan in 2012 requesting not to take away Sinh's security. Konwar, in his letter, even reminded the prime minister how he had personally intervened in getting security cover for the "vulnerable and linguistic minority leader". Digvijaya, who had tried to bring Sinh back to the party in 2011, also mentioned in his letter the prime minister's assurance about taking care of the security issue.

Even the NDA government did not touch Matang's security cover. In July 2014, the Protection Review Group and the Security Categorisation Committee of the ministry of home affairs had recommended withdrawal of Sinh's Z-plus cover. While security cover of 25 were downgraded or removed on these recommendations, Sinh's case was ignored.

During the raid at his home over the Saradha scam last year, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officials reportedly found spy cameras in every corner of the house, including in bathrooms and flower pots. The recordings of these cameras, which have captured several top officers from the Intelligence Bureau (IB) and the CBI in his house, were found to be meticulously stored. According to sources, these videos, which had been ignored till now, would be examined by the PMO and several heads are likely to roll. The PMO has already ordered a probe into the nexus of Sinh with a section of bureaucrats.

THE videos recovered from his home partly explain his grip over bureaucracy. According to sources close to Sinh, the former Rajya Sabha member from Assam had several tricks under his sleeve to maintain the influence he had gained during his stint in the Narasimha Rao government. He never missed an opportunity to flaunt his "proximity" to Manmohan Singh, whom he knew since the former prime minister became a Rajya Sabha member from Assam in 1991. Sinh entered the Upper House a year later.

"He developed contacts with IB and CBI officials, bureaucrats and journalists when he was in the PMO. Over the years, he has honey-trapped many while others were lured with money. He records every conversation. Once a person enters his home and does a deal, he falls into his trap," says a close aide of Sinh. Another trick of his is to get calls from the PMO or other top ministers in between conversations. "There is an aide of him who would make calls from the other room and Sinh used to pretend that it was from top ministries," says a woman earlier closely associated with Sinh. Even during press conferences in Guwahati and between his private interactions, he used to often take break to receive calls from the PMO.

Because of his perceived closeness to the political and bureaucratic brass, Sinh often influenced transfer and postings of officers in the CBI and the IB. In 2010, an upright IB officer posted in Assam was shunted out of the state when he reported that the case of a firing in Sinh's car was stage-managed. Another officer, who gave a report in favour of Sinh, later found himself amid controversy when TV cameras spotted him in a fashion show organised by the former minister. And Goswami is not the only home secretary who was close to Sinh. A former home secretary was often found in Sinh's company at a prominent hotel located in the Ulubari area of Guwahati.

Though Sinh claims he was born in Assam, there was an FIR filed against him at Hajipur in Bihar where he used to work in a factory. Reports have been published about how he had to run away for harassing women in that area. Later, he got entangled in a murder case in Siliguri in West Bengal, from where he came to Tinsukia in Assam. Here he got close to a coal mafia leader who liked Sinh for his persuasion skills.

As he grew in money power and stature, he came in touch with the then Assam chief minister Hiteswar Saikia who helped him become a Rajya Sabha member from the state. Later, Manmohan brought him close to P.V. Narasimha Rao.

Sinh, who reportedly has three wives, married a former journalist who used to cover the PMO during Rao's tenure. Both later started a news channel in Assam. The estranged couple is now involved in a bitter legal battle over the ownership of the channel.