<p>New Delhi: The <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/ed">Enforcement Directorate</a> (ED) on Monday arrested Vinesh Chandel, a director and co-founder of political consultancy firm I-PAC, in connection with a <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/money-laundering">money-laundering</a> case linked to an alleged coal scam in West Bengal, officials said.</p>.<p>Chandel was taken into custody under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in Delhi, they said.</p>.<p>The premises of Chandel in Delhi, apart from that of another I-PAC co-founder and director Rishi Raj Singh in Bengaluru and that of former Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) communications in-charge Vijay Nair in Mumbai, were raided by the ED on April 2.</p>.West Bengal Assembly Elections 2026 | SC refuses voting rights to those excluded from electoral rolls amid pending appeals.<p>The federal probe agency conducted raids in connection with the case on January 8 at the I-PAC office and the Kolkata residence of its founder and one of the directors, Pratik Jain, leading to a controversy after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee arrived at the said location along with state government officials.</p>.<p>The ED case stems from a November 2020 FIR of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) that has alleged a multi-crore-rupee coal-pilferage scam related to Eastern Coalfields Limited mines in West Bengal's Kunustoria and Kajora areas, in and around Asansol.</p>.<p>The ED had said in a statement that a "hawala" operator linked to this alleged coal-smuggling ring had facilitated transactions of tens of crores of rupees to Indian PAC Consulting Private Limited, the registered company of I-PAC. </p>
<p>New Delhi: The <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/ed">Enforcement Directorate</a> (ED) on Monday arrested Vinesh Chandel, a director and co-founder of political consultancy firm I-PAC, in connection with a <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/money-laundering">money-laundering</a> case linked to an alleged coal scam in West Bengal, officials said.</p>.<p>Chandel was taken into custody under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in Delhi, they said.</p>.<p>The premises of Chandel in Delhi, apart from that of another I-PAC co-founder and director Rishi Raj Singh in Bengaluru and that of former Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) communications in-charge Vijay Nair in Mumbai, were raided by the ED on April 2.</p>.West Bengal Assembly Elections 2026 | SC refuses voting rights to those excluded from electoral rolls amid pending appeals.<p>The federal probe agency conducted raids in connection with the case on January 8 at the I-PAC office and the Kolkata residence of its founder and one of the directors, Pratik Jain, leading to a controversy after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee arrived at the said location along with state government officials.</p>.<p>The ED case stems from a November 2020 FIR of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) that has alleged a multi-crore-rupee coal-pilferage scam related to Eastern Coalfields Limited mines in West Bengal's Kunustoria and Kajora areas, in and around Asansol.</p>.<p>The ED had said in a statement that a "hawala" operator linked to this alleged coal-smuggling ring had facilitated transactions of tens of crores of rupees to Indian PAC Consulting Private Limited, the registered company of I-PAC. </p>