New Delhi: The arrest of Trinamool Congress youth leader Vinai Mishra’s brother Vikas Mishra by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) may spell more trouble for the ruling party in the poll-bound West Bengal, as the agency’s probe has put the proceeds of crime to the tune of Rs 1,300 crore.
The ED arrested Vikas Mishra from Delhi on Tuesday following which a court sent him to the agency’s custody for six days. The ED probe is based on an FIR registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in connection with the illegal coal smuggling case.
The CBI had registered a case against the alleged kingpin of the pilferage racket, Anup Majhi alias Lala, Eastern Coalfield Ltd General Managers Amit Kumar Dhar and Jayesh Chandra Rai, ECL chief of security Tanmay Das, area security inspector Kunustoria Dhananjay Rai, and the SSI and security in-charge of Kajora area, Debashish Mukherjee.
The CBI had also issued a look out circular (LOC) against the Mishra brothers earlier this year after their name cropped up in the case.
An ED official said here that after registering the money laundering case, the agency had carried out 49 search operations in Kolkata and Delhi in the last two months, recovering several incriminating documents.
The official said that the financial probe agency has also recorded the statement of over 40 people in connection with the case.
“During investigation, the ED gathered evidences which pointed out that the proceeds of crime generated from illegal coal smuggling by key accused Majhi is worth Rs 1,300 crore,” the official said.
He said that a major chunk of this amount was received by Vinai Mishra and his brother.
The official said that the proceeds of crime to the tune of Rs 730 crore reached the Trinamool Congress youth leader and his brother, on behalf of some influential persons as well as for themselves.
The actions by the ED and the CBI ahead of the Assembly polls have raised the temperature in the poll-bound state where the ruling Trinamool Congress and the BJP are engaged in bitter war of wrods.
The CBI has also questioned Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee’s wife Rujira Banerjee and his sister-in-law Menka Gambhir in connection with the illegal coal smuggling case.
The agency has recorded the statement of Gambhir’s husband Ankush Arora and her father-in-law Pawan Arora in connection with the case. Abhishek Banerjee is the nephew of West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool supremo Mamata Banerjee.
Following the questioning of Rujira and Gambhir, the CBI team also carried out searches in Kolkata on the premises of a businessman named Randhir Kumar Barnwal on February 26.
The actions of the central agencies assume importance as the 294-member West Bengal Assembly is set to go to the polls in eight phases on March 27, April 1, April 6, April 10, April 17, April 22, April 26 and April 29. The results will be declared on May 2.
(Anand Singh can be contacted at anand.s@ians.in)
Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from IANS service.