The Enforcement Directorate on Friday conducted simultaneous raids and search operations at several locations across West Bengal, including the state capital Kolkata, as part of a money laundering probe against the coal mafia.
The searches, which began around 6 am, were carried out by more than 100 officials of the central agency. They are a part of an investigation into alleged illegal mining, transportation, and storage of coal, they said.
The places where the ED carried out searches include the offices and residences of coal traders as well as coal mining contractors and illegal toll booths across 24 locations in Kolkata, Howrah, and the state's coal belt of Asansol in the West Burdwan district.
"The persons whose premises are being covered include Narendra Kharka, Yudhistar Ghosh, Krishna Murari Kayal, Chinmayi Mondal, Rajkoshore Yadav and others," the ED said; however, their links were not shared by the agency.
The ED officials also conducted raids in some locations in neighbouring Jharkhand, including the state's coal belt of Dhanbad.
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, news agency PTI quoted the ED officials as saying.
West Bengal's coalfields are spread across four districts: Birbhum, Purulia, Paschim Bardhman and Bankura.
In 2020, Eastern Coalfields Ltd filed its first complaint against illegal coal theft with CBI. A total of 597 FIRs were filed by the ECL, which led to the arrest and detention of 28 people between 2020 and 2021.
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