The Uttar Pradesh (UP) government on Saturday transferred the corruption case against Samajwadi Party general secretary Amar Singh to the Kolkata police.

A complaint was lodged at a Kanpur police station that Singh, 53, created a string of shell companies and amalgamated them with six core firms controlled by him, mostly with addresses in Kolkata. The complainant, Shivakant Tripathi, said this was done to convert Singh’s “black money into white”.

Singh had denied the charges and threatened to sue UP Chief Minister Mayawati because he felt she was behind it.

Talking to the journalists, UP Cabinet Secretary Shashank Shekhar Singh said since a majority of the companies were registered in Kolkata, it would be appropriate for the police there to investigate the matter.

He said the UP government had sought an explanation from police officers, especially from the officer-in-charge of the police station concerned, why the complaint was accepted since the Kolkata link was known.

Kolkata Police Commissioner Gautam Mohan Chakraborty said: “We're yet to receive any such instruction or request.”