The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday conducted inspections at nine places across West Bengal in connection with its ongoing money laundering probe in the Public Distribution System (PDS) scam case, officials said.
The raids were carried out since early morning under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA) at premises linked to suppliers and exporters located in Kolkata, Burdwan and Habra, linked to Nirajan Chandra Saha and Ors in the case.
The Kolkata Zonal Office of the Enforcement Directorate is conducting searches based on the investigation it has initiated in this case, based primarily on the West Bengal Police First Information Report (FIR) dated October 23, 2020, registered at Basirhat Police Station on the complaint of Deputy Commissioner of Customs, Gojadanga LCS, alleging diversion of large quantities of PDS wheat meant for social welfare programmes.
The places searched included the offices and residential buildings of Susanto Saha and his company, Sagar Enterprises, in North 24 Parganas; Samir Kumar Chandra and Partha Saha and his company Adarsha International, in Hebra in North 24 Parganas; Concern what Annapurna Rice in Burdwan; Cynax Aannaapurna Udyog Private Limited in Burdwan; Daulat Ram Gupta in Northpara; Kanchan Sum in Burdwan.
The federal agency said that its investigations revealed that “the accused adopted a systematic work method to divert public distribution system wheat allocated to social welfare beneficiaries.”
The agency said: “Wheat was purchased at low prices through unlicensed channels, and in collusion with suppliers, licensed distributors, traders and intermediaries.”
“Large quantities have been illegally diverted from the supply chain and accumulated at multiple locations,” it added.
“To conceal its origin, the accused removed or reversed the original gunny bags bearing the marks of the Food Corporation of India (FCI) and the State Government and repacked them, thereby concealing the distinguishing features and passing off the PDS wheat as legitimate stock for further sale in the open market or export, resulting in unjustified enrichment of the accused persons and generation of proceeds of crime.” (that I)
