The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday raided various places in West Bengal, linked to individuals and businesses found to be allegedly involved in a sand smuggling racket.
According to sources, the probe agency conducted searches in offices in Kolkata's Bentinck Street area, Lalgarh and Gopiballavpur in Jhargram district, while another search operation was conducted at the residence of sand trader Manish Bagadia in Asansol in Paschim Bardhaman district.
"These raids are part of our investigation into illegal sand mining. The ED operations started early this morning," an official said. The teams are combing through business records, financial documents, and properties linked to the racket, the official added.
Bagadia is involved in the operations of sand trading in several ghats across multiple districts in South Bengal. A probe has been initiated against him over allegations of illegal financial transactions and money laundering, the sources said.
Besides his residence, the teams also searched his business premises in Asansol. Local police were deployed in the area to provide security during the operation.
In Lalgarh, businessman Sourav Roy's sand mine was raided.
On September 8, the probe agency conducted multiple raids across the state in connection with the case. Raids were carried out in Kolkata, Jhargram, Kalyani and Bidhannagar, among other areas.
(With PTI inputs)
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