The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday conducted raids at three offices and a flat in Kolkata related to Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Shankar Adhya arrested in connection with the alleged West Bengal ration distribution scam.
During the raids that lasted for around 12 hours, several property deeds, documents related to crores of foreign exchange, Bangladeshi and other currency notes and a CCTV hard disk were seized by the ED from the premises, sources within the probe agency said.
The ED conducted raids at the office premises of Shankar Adhya, the former chairman of Bangaon municipality, at Sector-5 in the Salt Lake area of Kolkata.
According to the probe agency, at least Rs 2,000 crore was laundered to Dubai through Bangladesh with the help of a few money exchange agencies of Shankar Adhya. The role of the arrested TMC leader’s aide is currently being investigated as to whether he was involved in money laundering.
The aide’s office is being searched right now by the ED officers. Currently, four teams of the probe agency are conducting raids in connection with the alleged ration distribution scam.
Earlier this month, Shankar Adhya was arrested from his residence in Simultola in Bongaon of North 24 Parganas district after searches were conducted by the agency at properties linked to him and his family members for 17 hours.
A special court in Kolkata remanded the TMC leader to ED custody for 14 days.
Shankar Adhya is considered to be close to state minister Jyoti Priya Mallick, who was arrested in connection with the alleged scam last year.
According to the ED, nearly 30 per cent of the Public Distribution System (PDS) ration meant for beneficiaries in West Bengal was diverted to the open market.