West Bengal minister Jyotipriyo Mallick was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money laundering case related to an alleged multi-crore ration distribution scam in the state. He was apprehended under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act after over 17-18 hours of questioning. ED officials took him from his home to the central agency’s office early in the morning. He will be produced in a local court, where the ED will seek custody.
Mallick, who is a diabetic patient and has other health issues, underwent medical tests at an ESI hospital. The ED described the tests as routine and stated that they would request his custody after the medical examination.
After his arrest, Mallick claimed he was a victim of a conspiracy, attributing it to the BJP and its leader Suvendu Adhikari, a former colleague in the TMC party. He stated it was a conspiracy and accused the BJP of engaging in nefarious schemes against them. The ED had previously arrested a confidant of the minister, Bakibur Rahman, whose remand was set to end.
This marks the second instance of a TMC cabinet minister being apprehended by central agencies in corruption cases. Last year, former state minister Partha Chatterjee was arrested by the ED in connection with a school job scam.
The ED had conducted searches at Mallick’s residences and raided his ancestral house in central Kolkata. The alleged scam involves reported irregularities in the public distribution system and the distribution of food grains during the Covid lockdowns.
The BJP expected Mallick’s arrest, citing the pace of the investigation.
In the past year, two other TMC MLAs and the TMC Birbhum district president were arrested in cases related to school job scams and cattle smuggling by central agencies.
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