Enforment Directorate Raids Multiple Location Across West Bengal In Connection With 'Illegal' Mining And Coal Transportation Case

Kolkata: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday carried out raids at multiple locations in West Bengal in connection with a case related to illegal mining and transportation of coal. According to the federal probe agency, around 10 premises were searched under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

Notably, the searches were conducted at the premises of several individuals, including West Bengal Police officer-in-charge Manoranjan Mondal, Kiran Khan, Sekh Akhtar, Prabir Datta, and Mirza Hesamuddin Baig.

The raids across multiple locations in West Bengal were conducted days after the federal agency raided the I-PAC office and the residence of its functionary and director Pratik Jain in West Bengal’s Kolkata on January 8. The raids were reportedly carried out as part of a money laundering probe into an alleged multi-crore rupee coal pilferage scam.

A total of 10 premises were searched, including I-PAC’s office in Salt Lake and Jain’s house on Loudon Street. Among these 10 locations, four are in Delhi.

The West Bengal Chief Minister dramatically turned up at Jain’s residence amid an ED raid. She alleged that the central agency was attempting to seize the TMC’s internal documents, hard disks, and sensitive data linked to its election strategy.

She said the raids at the residence and offices of Jain, “the in-charge of my IT cell”, were politically motivated and unconstitutional. In protest against the raids, Banerjee and other TMC leaders also took out a rally.

Notably, the assembly elections in West Bengal are scheduled to take place in April of May this year.