Arrested Bengal minister Mallick hospitalised after fainting in court

West Bengal Minister Jyotipriyo Mallick, who was arrested early on Friday, has been hospitalised after being diagnosed with high blood sugar and renal issues, officials said.

Mallick was earlier remanded to Enforcement Directorate custody for 10 days by a court in Kolkata following his arrest by the central agency in a money laundering case linked to an alleged multi-crore ration distribution scam.

The state's forest minister had fainted during a hearing inside the Bankshal court in Kolkata, and was later rushed to a city hospital for immediate medical care, the officials said.

Mallick, 66, is currently stable, and has been admitted for close monitoring and further evaluation, the hospital said in a bulletin.

"He underwent a CT scan, MRI, and relevant blood tests. He was admitted with an initial diagnosis of hyperglycaemia, renal impairment, dyselectrolytemia... and hypertension," it said.

The chief metropolitan magistrate, Calcutta Tanumoy Karmakar granted the ED's plea for custody of the minister and remanded him to the central agency's custody for 10 days till November 5.

The ED said it needed to take Mallick into custody to question him in connection with the alleged ration scam, claiming that it has found his links with one Bakibur Rahaman, who was arrested nearly a fortnight ago in the case.

Rejecting the minister's bail prayer, the court directed that Mallick be produced before the court again on November 6.

Since the minister fell ill in the courtroom, the court allowed his treatment at a private hospital of his choice, following which he could be shifted to Command Hospital in the city if required.

The court also directed that the period of hospitalisation if any, will be excluded from the period of the ED custody granted by it.

The probe agency arrested the minister under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, following over 17-18 hours of questioning.

ED officials said Mallick was taken from his home in the Salt Lake area on the outskirts of Kolkata to the central agency's office in Kolkata around 3.30 am.

"I am a victim of a great conspiracy," the TMC minister told reporters after his arrest.

Mallick also alleged that the "conspiracy was hatched by the BJP and its leader Suvendu Adhikari", a former colleague in the TMC.

"The BJP is actively engaging in plotting nefarious schemes against us," said Mallick, who is currently state forest minister and had previously held the portfolio of food and supplies.

On Thursday, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had threatened to file a police case if anything happened to Mallick during the questioning, as he was unwell and had several medical ailments.

Banerjee had also termed the raids by the ED against opposition leaders as "a dirty political game" by the BJP.

The ED had earlier arrested Rahman Bakibur, believed to be a confidant of the minister, whose remand is ending this week.

Sources said the central agency may seek to confront the two with each other's version of events in the case.

Hours after arresting Mallick, the ED froze his bank accounts as well as those belonging to his wife and daughter, a senior officer said.

The minister's mobile phones were also seized and sent for forensic examination, he added.

"We have sent instructions to bank authorities to freeze the accounts of Mallick, his wife and daughter. We are also trying to find out if there are other bank accounts used by him or anybody in his family," the officer told PTI.

Mallick's arrest is the second instance of a cabinet minister of TMC being apprehended by central agencies in connection with corruption cases.

Last year, former state minister Partha Chatterjee was arrested by the ED in a case related to a school jobs scam.

The agency had searched Mallick's residences on Thursday. It also raided his ancestral house on Amherst Street in central Kolkata. The alleged scam pertains to reported irregularities in the public distribution system and also in the distribution of food grains during the Covid lockdowns.

"He was non-cooperative and gave confusing and self-contradictory replies to our officers during the questioning yesterday. He kept on saying that he was unable to take questions as he was ill. We need him to get answers to several queries related to the scam," the ED officer told PTI.

The TMC labelled the arrest of its senior minister as "vendetta" politics and questioned the absence of action against BJP leaders who switched sides, facing corruption cases and investigations by central agencies.

Leading the TMC's response, minister Shashi Panja accused the BJP of attempting to silence opposition voices raising issues pertinent to the people.
She stated, "It is an attempt by the BJP to muzzle the opposition raising pro-people issues."

Panja went on to ask, "The question is why corrupt BJP leaders and turncoats who have corruption charges against them are never summoned by the ED and CBI."

She claimed the BJP is scared of the people's movement launched by TMC demanding clearance of MGNREGA dues.

Panja also alleged that the "BJP has engaged in witch-hunting ... (and) weaponised the ED and the CBI -- against opponents and added this 'strategy would face resistance from the people of Bengal in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls."

In response to the arrest of the state minister, the BJP said it was "expected" considering the pace of the investigation in the case.

BJP state spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya said, "The arrest was anticipated after the revelations made by one of his associates, who was apprehended a few days ago. It has once again been proven that the TMC is deeply mired in corruption".

Taking to X, Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari said, "Henceforth, the state cabinet meeting will be convened inside the jail."

In the past year, two other MLAs and TMC Birbhum district president Anubrata Mondal have been arrested in connection with the school jobs scam and cattle smuggling cases.