The Enforcement Directorate on Friday launched coordinated raids at 40 places across Bengal and Jharkhand as part of a money laundering probe and seized cash and jewellery worth over ₹10 crore, sources said.
The sources said 100 officials of the federal agency took part in the raids, which began at 6am to “dismantle the sophisticated networks orchestrating widespread coal pilferage”.
The raids across the two neighbouring states yielded substantial recoveries, with total seizures exceeding ₹10 crore so far, said an ED official. Teams of central forces provided security to the ED teams, which searched residences and offices apart from toll collection booths and checkposts.
“In Bengal alone, the sleuths have seized cash, gold and jewellery worth more than ₹8 crore. In Jharkhand, the agency seized ₹2.2 crore in cash. The agency sleuths also seized 120 land deeds from these premises, suggesting the coal mafia’s investments in real estates,” the official said.
The crackdown, conducted under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), was part of a probe into illegal mining, transportation and storage of coal that has left the exchequer dearer by hundreds of crores of rupees.
The operation was designed to dismantle the financial infrastructure of what officials describe as entrenched “coal mafia” operating in the two states.
“The raids were aimed to map financial flows and secure evidence related to long-running extraction and transport rackets,” the official said.
In Jharkhand, the agency carried out raids across 18 locations.
“These operations pertain to several major cases of coal theft and smuggling, covering the matters of Anil Goyal, Sanjay Udhyog, L.B. Singh and Amar Mandal. The collective scale of the cases involves significant coal pilferage/ theft, resulting in a massive financial loss to the government estimated to run into hundreds of crores,” an agency source said.
Coal trader L.B. Singh’s home and business establishments in the Dev Bila area were raided. Singh allegedly attempted to obstruct raids at his residential compound by letting loose dogs.
In Bengal, the agency conducted searches at 24 premises spread across Durgapur, Purulia, Howrah and Calcutta.
“Properties linked to individuals including Narendra Kharka, Anil Goyal, Yudhistir Ghosh, Krishna Murari Kayal, Chinmayi Mondal, Rajkishore Yadav and their associates were raided,” the official said.