ED raids coal mafia in Jharkhand, West Bengal; seizes over Rs 10 crore in cash, gold

The Enforcement Directorate on Friday conducted a mega search operation in Jharkhand and West Bengal as part of a money laundering probe against the coal mafia in the two neighbouring states and seized more than Rs 10 crore worth of cash and gold, officials said. More than 40 premises were covered in the raids that were launched around 6 am, with almost 100 officials and staff of the federal probe agency participating. Cash and gold worth Rs 8 crore have been seized from West Bengal, while cash of about Rs 2.2 crore was recovered during the searches in Jharkhand. About 120 land deeds have also been seized from the premises covered in Jharkhand, officials said.

Teams of central security forces provided security to the ED teams, which searched residences and offices apart from toll collection booths and check posts. The raids were continuing till evening. The action is being carried out under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). In Jharkhand, the agency is covering about 18 locations as part of the investigation related to coal theft and smuggling. According to the sources, the locations of entities named Anil Goyal, Sanjay Udhyog, L B Singh, and Amar Mandal are being covered. The collective scale of the case involves "significant" coal pilferage and theft, resulting in a massive financial loss to the government worth hundreds of crores of rupees, officials said. In West Bengal, about 24 premises in Durgapur, Purulia, Howrah and Kolkata districts are being covered as part of an investigation into alleged illegal mining, transportation and storage of coal, they said. The people whose premises are being covered include Narendra Kharka, Yudhistar Ghosh, Krishna Murari Kayal, Chinmayi Mondal, Rajkoshore Yadav and others, they said.