The Enforcement Directorate intensifies its investigation into the West Bengal coal scam by seizing ₹159 crore in assets linked to illegal mining and money laundering, raising questions about political connections and financial irregularities.
The Enforcement Directorate on Wednesday said it has attached fresh assets worth Rs 159 crore in a money laundering investigation linked to alleged illegal coal mining and pilferage in poll-bound West Bengal, a case in which it also raided the political consultancy firm I-PAC.
The attached assets include investments in movable financial instruments such as corporate bonds and alternative investment funds held in the names of entities like Shyam Sel and Power Ltd and Shyam Ferro Alloys Ltd, part of the Shyam Group, managed and controlled by Sanjay Agarwal and Brij Bhushan Agarwal, the agency said in a statement.
The ED case stems from a November 2020 FIR filed by the CBI, which 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.
Anup Majee alias Lala, arrested by the agency a few years ago, has been stated by the ED as the leader of this syndicate.
The agency claimed certain companies in the state "knowingly" purchased illegally excavated coal with cash.
It earlier attached assets worth Rs 322 crore and pegged the estimate of proceeds of crime at Rs 2,742 crore.
The federal probe agency last conducted searches in this case on January 8. Kolkata premises of the political consultancy firm I-PAC and one of its directors Pratik Jain were among the targets of those raids.
The action led to much controversy and the ED alleged in a press statement that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee entered Jain's residence during the raids, "took away key evidence," and followed the same action at the I-PAC office.
Banerjee and her party, Trinamool Congress, alleged that the ED, in the garb of searches, tried to take away its election-strategy related documents from I-PAC premises just before the upcoming assembly polls in the state.
The ED approached the Calcutta High Court and the Supreme Court seeking a CBI probe into the incident.
The ED claims that the coal syndicate engaged in "illegal" excavation and "widespread" coal pilferage, distributing coal to multiple factories in West Bengal with the "active facilitation" of local administrative elements.
"The offence involves multiple layers of complex financial transactions designed to conceal the origin and ownership of illicit funds.
"The ED continues to systematically unravel these layers to identify ultimate beneficiaries, trace additional proceeds of crime, and detect all persons involved in the laundering process," it said.
West Bengal will see a two-phased polls for its 294 seat assembly on April 23 and April 29.