Kolkata, Feb 3 The Enforcement Directorate (ED) continued its raids across West Bengal’s West Burdwan district on Tuesday in connection with a coal and sand smuggling case, with dramatic scenes unfolding at the residence of businessman Rajesh Bansal in Jamuria.
According to ED sources, officials of the State Bank of India (SBI) arrived at Bansal’s house carrying sacks and were later seen exiting with three of them.
Sources said that so far Rs 65 lakh has been recovered from the premises, and the amount could cross Rs 1 crore. Bansal reportedly failed to provide satisfactory details about the source of the cash.
The raids began around 6:30 am when three ED vehicles arrived in Jamuria from Kolkata. Searches were conducted at the residence of businessman Ramesh in the Punjabi More area near Jamuria market, as well as at the homes of his sons, Sumit Bansal and Amit Bansal. It is yet to be confirmed what documents or materials were seized.
ED teams also searched a hardware store and warehouse at Punjabi More, and a shop named Bansal Hardware in Jamuria Hattala. The Durgapur City Centre residence of Budbud Police Station’s Officer-in-Charge, Manoranjan Mandal, was also raided. Mandal is currently being interrogated.
Searches were simultaneously carried out at locations in Nabagram in Pandaveshwar and in Durgapur.
Sources said several factories purchase coal through legal and illegal channels, but avoid direct financial transactions.
Bansal’s trading firm allegedly acted as a middleman, providing rented accounts for coal deals. ED is probing the scale of these transactions.
The raids follow last month’s ED searches at the residence and office of Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC) chief Pratik Jain. That operation triggered a political storm after Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee personally visited the premises and accused ED of seizing her party’s election strategy documents under the guise of investigation.
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