The Enforcement Directorate( ED), which arrested the former state food and civil supplies minister Jyotipriya Mallick following 20 hours of interrogation on Thursday night in connection with the multi-crore ration distribution ‘scam’ in the state, today quizzed his current and former personal assistants yet again to gather information on their alleged roles and the role of the minister in the scam. Amit Dey, the current PA, who had joined the probe belatedly following intimation by the central agency Thursday after the ED traced him to Puri, today faced the agency’s sleuths at its CGO complex office at Salt Lake for the second time and was quizzed extensively.
According to sources, he was asked in particular in connection with alleged chats and call detail records on his mobile phone which the agency had confiscated during the Thursday raid. The source also claimed, that Mr Dey had reportedly acknowledged to the investigators that the arrested Bakibur Rahaman, who is said to be close to Mr Mallick, was a frequent visitor to the minister, when he was at the helm of the state food and supplies department.
Mr Dey reported also confirmed that Mr Rehman also visited Mr Mallick at his chamber a number of times after he was shifted to forest department. Mr Dey, claimed the source, passed the buck to Abhijit Das, the minister’s former PA, regarding the details on the alleged nexus between the arrested Bakibur and Mr Mallick. Mr Dey is himself under the scanner of the agency due to the sharp increase in his assets after being appointed as the minister’s PA in 2011, which the agency suspects could be disproportionate to his income.
His three flats at Nagerbazaar and an alleged resort are reportedly under the lens. The recovery of an alleged maroon diary from the Howrah residence of Abhijit Das, the former PA of the former food minister during a search on Thursday, claimed the ED in court, was crucial and an incriminating document that revealed details on how Mr Mallick had been benefitted through alleged transfer of money to his accounts by Bakibur Rahaman.
Interrogation of Bakibur in ED custody, claimed the source, yielded acknowledgement from Bakibur that three shell companies ~ Shri Hanuman Realton, Gracious Innovative and Gracious Creation, had been used to launder a total amount of Rs 20 crore after which the cash was transferred to the minister’s accounts.
Meanwhile, investigation also revealed, claimed sources, traces of two more shell companies, through which the minister was benefitted by another Rs 80 lakh. The alleged rise in assets of his wife and daughter from Rs 45 lakh to allegedly Rs 9 crore too is under the scanner of the investigators