The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached immovable and movable assets estimated to be worth Rs 200 crore of EMTA Coal Ltd, and its promoters Ujjal Kumar Upadhyay, Sangeeta Upadhyay, Sujit Kumar Upadhyay and their family members in a coal block case, the agency said on Thursday.
The attached properties are in the form of bank account balances, fixed deposits, share and mutual fund holdings, office and residential properties. The properties were attached under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.
"The book value of these attached properties was Rs 136.48 crore but the present estimated market value is Rs 200 crore approximately," said the ED, adding that the agency has initiated a money-laundering investigation on the basis of the First Information Report (FIR) registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against the company and others.
During the investigation, it was revealed that the accused persons have conducted "mining in 6 Coal Blocks allocated in the West Bengal."
Supreme Court in a writ petition 120 of 2012 relating to allotment of coal blocks passed an order on August 25, 2014, and held allocation of certain coal blocks 'illegal', which included 6 coal blocks allocated to the West Bengal Government Public Sector Units, said the ED.
"There are allegations of illegal formation of Joint Venture company, and making huge illegal profit by the mining of coal in 6 Coal blocks by EMTA Coal Ltd, and others," added the ED.
EMTA Coal Limited provides mining and agglomeration of hard coal. The company offers coal mining and power generation services. The head office of the firm is based in Nandalal Basu Sarani in Kolkata.
( With inputs from ANI )
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