ED conducts fresh raids in Bengal-Jharkhand coal mafia case

Kolkata: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday conducted fresh searches across multiple locations in West Bengal and Delhi as part of an ongoing money laundering investigation against a coal mafia operating across Jharkhand and West Bengal, agency officials said.

ED teams, accompanied by central armed police forces, carried out searches at premises in Delhi, Kolkata, Asansol, Durgapur and other parts of Paschim Bardhaman district from around 6.30 am, they said.

Among the locations searched was the residence of newly appointed Budbud police station officer-in-charge (OC) Manoranjan Mandal in Asansol.

"The searches are linked to an ongoing investigation into illegal sand and coal trade," a senior official said.

Mandal, who is yet to formally assume charge at Budbud police station, was suspended last year while posted at Barabani police station following corruption charges and was subsequently attached to the Asansol Police Special Branch.

His recent reinstatement as OC has now come under scrutiny following the ED action.

The agency also searched the homes and offices of several sand and coal traders in the region.

In Durgapur's Sepco area, ED conducted raids at the residence of sand trader Prabir Dutta, owner of KK Minerals, and simultaneously at the house of his brother Amit Dutta.

The firm operates sand mines in Bankura, Paschim and Purba Bardhaman districts, with offices in Panagarh, officials said.

Searches were also carried out at the residences of sand trader Sheikh Hasim Mirza Beg in Panagarh, Sheikh Kiran Mandal in Andul's Bhaktarnagar area, and coal trader Sheikh Maizul in Pandabeswar, among others.

Raids were underway at several locations in Kolkata and Delhi as well, sources added.

The first round of searches in this case were undertaken in November last year during which the ED said it seized cash and gold worth more than Rs 14 crore.

The agency took cognisance of multiple FIRs filed by the West Bengal and Jharkhand police to book a complaint under the anti-money laundering law.

The police FIRs indicated that a "vast" illegal coal supply network was operating across the Jharkhand-West Bengal border.

Documents and other records seized during the searches have corroborated the allegations levelled in the FIRs and has also led to the identification of an organised racket operating with help of local authorities, the ED had said in a statement.

The syndicate is very active in the border areas of West Bengal and Jharkhand and has generated "huge" proceeds of crime, it claimed.

This investigation is different from another alleged coal scam case being probed by the federal probe agency, in which it had raided the premises of political consultancy firm I-PAC in Kolkata last month.