The coal smuggling case is the same in which Trinamool Congress’s national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee was questioned by the Enforcement Directorate several times.
Kolkata: At least three houses belonging to West Bengal Law Minister Moloy Ghatak were raided by CBI officials on Wednesday morning in connection with the coal smuggling case. According to sources, the raids are being carried out in Kolkata and Asansol.
Ghatak had earlier been questioned by the Enforcement Directorate. Ghatak, on Tuesday, had tweeted against Union Home Minister Amit Shah and had said that the country’s state of affairs is horrifying “under the watch of Mr Amit Shah.”
The coal smuggling case is the same in which Trinamool Congress’s national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee was questioned by the Enforcement Directorate several times.
It is important to note that several West Bengal ministers and TMC leaders are under the scanner of central agencies. Among the big names are sacked minister Partha Chatterjee, who is currently in jail for his alleged involvement in the SSC scam, Anubrata Mondal, who was arrested by the CBI in connection with the cattle smuggling case and several others.
Way back in November 2020, the CBI had registered the coal smuggling case. It was alleged that illegally mined coal worth thousands of crores of rupees were sold by a group of people operating in the western parts of West Bengal, where the Eastern Coalfields Limited runs several mines. It was also alleged that the proceeds from the illegal coal trade went to political leaders.
Meanwhile, the ED filed its first chargesheet in the case at a special court in Delhi in August last year and named Vinay Mishra’s brother Vikas and former officer-in-charge of Bankura police station Ashok Mishra as the prime accused. Notably, the chargesheet did not mention Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s nephew Abhishek Banerjee. Eight IPS officers posted in West Bengal were recently summoned to Delhi by the ED for questioning.
