A raid conducted by the Enforcement Directorate on a Kolkata-based gaming app company, which resulted in the recovery of Rs 17 crore in cash, has triggered a war of words between the ruling Trinamool Congress and the Opposition BJP.
The ED had raided the promoters of the company as part of a money-laundering investigation. A photograph released by the federal agency showed bundles of seized Rs 500 currency notes along with a few in the denomination of Rs 2,000 and Rs 200 stacked together on a bed.
The counting of notes was seized by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) from the residence of city-based businessman Nasir Khan and his son Amir Khan in connection with the mobile gaming app fraud continues on Saturday evening.
According to sources, over Rs 16 crore have been recovered till now from the Garden Reach residence of Amir Khan, who allegedly launched a mobile gaming application named E-Nuggets, which was designed for the purpose of defrauding the public.
Senior Trinamool Congress (TMC) minister and Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim said the TMC has nothing to do with the businessman concerned but alleged that the Centre wanted to drive away investors from the state by spreading the fear of "harassment" by federal agencies.
The BJP rejected the charge, saying the raids were only against unscrupulous businessmen, and asked the TMC leader if he had anything to hide.
Hakim wondered if the ED's investigations into money laundering cases are restricted to states ruled by non-BJP parties like West Bengal.
"If Rs 7 crore has been unearthed, the source of that money should certainly be investigated. But what about Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi who had swindled more than Rs 7000 crore? Why did their wrongdoing not come to light before they left (India)?
"There are businessmen in BJP-ruled states and they might also have amassed large amounts of money," he said.
"Does that mean that the raids will be directed selectively against businessmen of non-BJP ruled states like Bengal? It is for dissuading investors from coming to Bengal in the fear of harassment by central agencies," the senior TMC leader alleged.
Reacting to Hakim's comments, BJP state spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya claimed that such statements come from fear as people are aware of the unholy nexus between money launderers and the TMC.
"The ED raid is not directed against the business community in general. It is only against unscrupulous businessmen. Does the former state transport minister has anything to hide?" Bhattacharya added.
Veteran Trinamool leader and three-time Lok Sabha member Saugata Roy claimed that the ED raids are deliberately meant to deprive the Trinamool Congress from any assistance from the business community in the future.
"This is not happening just in case of Trinamool Congress. This happens in any state which is not ruled by the BJP. The idea is to conduct raids and search operations at the premises of businessmen so that they refrain from helping the Trinamool in future. But ultimately such ploys will not work out. In the past, there had been several actions by the central agencies in the state. But nothing happened," Roy said.
(With inputs from IANS)
Deccan Herald is on WhatsApp Channels| Join now for Breaking News & Editor's Picks