The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday conducted raids at multiple locations linked to West Bengal law minister Moloy Ghatak in connection with its probe into alleged coal pilferage from Eastern Coalfields Ltd mines in Asansol. CBI teams simultaneously raided three houses belonging to Mr Ghatak and his relatives at Asansol from early morning today, along with three locations in Kolkata.

While the CBI team questioned the minister, who was present at his official quarters, adjacent to Raj Bhavan in Kolkata’s Dalhousie area, another team continued searches at his Lake Gardens home.

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Two houses in Asansol’s Apcar Garden area, one where Moloy Ghatak resides and the other used by Sayoni Ghosh for her campaigning during the 2021 assembly polls, which was locked, was also raided. In the Apcar garden residence his wife Sudeshna Ghatak was present. The third team raided his ancestral house at Chelidanga, where his younger brother Abhijit alias Fuchu Ghatak and his family stay. At around 8.14 am, the CBI teams suddenly arrived along with large number of CPF personnel at Apcar Garden area within Asansol South police station limits.

Yesterday, around 4 pm, the CBI advocate Rakesh Kumar sought search warrant under Section 93 of Crpc in the court of Special CBI Judge Rajesh Chakraborty for eight locations related to Moloy Ghatak in Asansol and Kolkata. In its application the CBI claimed that Moloy Ghatak is the prime suspect in the illegal coal mining case. Six houses of Moloy Ghatak have been raided, including three in Kolkata, one of which was locked. In addition, the apartment of his CA Pratik Diwan has also been raided.

Sudeshna Ghatak, his wife claimed that the CBI was satisfied after searching his house in Apcar Garden and behaved politely. They found nothing, she claimed.

She further added that these kinds of raids are due to jealousy and if required she will ask her husband to quit politics. He has not taken the prices of the family ancestral lands during acquisition for Andal airport and has donated to his brothers, such a person will not take money from coal mafias and in fact, have been forced to sell her jewellery and lands for fighting elections, she claimed. “I am a practicing advocate in Asansol court for the past 23 years and my wife Mohua Ghatak is also a practising advocate and we hail from middle-class families and need no extra earning.

There is nothing the CBI will find from my house,” claimed Abhijit Ghatak, younger brother and district president of INTTUC. Sources claimed that CBI has seized some documents from both these houses. CBI has not given any official statement so far.The INTTUC block president, Raju Ahluwalia and Burdwan west district minority community president Mohammed Afroz and their supporters agitated against the CBI and the ED at BNR more today during the time of the raid.