Enforcement Directorate officers today raided former state food minister Jyotipriya Mallick’s residences, allegedly in connection with the ration scam.
Enforcement Directorate [IANS]
Enforcement Directorate officers today raided former state food minister Jyotipriya Mallick’s residences, allegedly in connection with the ration scam. After the incumbent food minister Rathin Ghosh who was also probed by the ED earlier, it was the turn of the former food minister Mallick, who is now the state forests minister. The raid comes close to the quizzing of businessman Bakibur Rahaman, allegedly involved in the ration scam. An ED team, divided in several groups, fanned out at different eight areas from early morning today and conducted marathon raids at two houses of the former food minister, at Salt Lake and his ancestral residence at Amherst Street. The raids started at 6 in the morning.
The residences of his Personal assistant (PA) Amit Dey and his chartered accountant (CA) and residence of another alleged close aide of the minister in Howrah were also searched. The ED sources said that the sleuths, based on the information gathered following interrogation of the arrested businessman Bakibur Rahman, an alleged close aide of the former food minister, who was arrested earlier.
Besides the minister’s residences, three flats of his PA Amit Dey at Nagerbazar, which too were under the ED radar, could not be searched earlier due to being under lock and key. Dey, who had reportedly left for holiday, joined the probe and the ED team searched his residence taking him to his flats. The residence of the CA of the former food minister at Ranikuthi too was searched. Another ED team raided the residence of one Abhijit Das, an alleged close aide of Mallick in Howrah.
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Locals said that they were witness to cars from the food department frequenting his residence at Bantra. The early morning raids by the central agency left the chief minister Mamata Banerjee see red. She tore into the central government for pursuing a vendetta politics by letting loose the central agencies to stifle voices of protest.
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