The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has alleged West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s nephew and TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee’s family benefitted from illicit funds obtained from illegal coal mining in the State under a “deep system” of political patronage driven by a “well-oiled” machinery.
The agency made these claims before a special court on Wednesday in a remand note seeking enhanced custody of West Bengal police officer Ashok Kumar Mishra, the Inspector incharge of Bankura police station.
The police officer and TMC youth wing leader Vinay Mishra’s brother Vikas Mishra were arrested by the ED in a case which has local trader Anup Majhi, alias Lala, as the prime accused in the case of multi-crore illegal coal mining/pilferage scam.
The ED arrested the inspector on April 3 and the court sent him to custody till Wednesday and later extended his ED remand till April 12.
The ED case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) was filed after taking cognisance of a November, 2020, FIR of the CBI alleging a multi-crore coal pilferage scam related to the Eastern Coalfields Ltd mines in Kunustoria and Kajora areas in and around Asansol district of West Bengal.
In its remand note, the ED alleged that certain illegal mining instances were flourishing in the State under the “patronage” of the political party in power.
The agency connected the policeman to Majhi, Vinay and Vikas Mishra, going up all the way to Banerjee’s family.
The TMC MP from Diamond Harbour constituency embroiled in the case has denied these allegations.
The ED said documents seized from Majhi and Singh showed the former had “maintained detailed coded records in the form of payments made to various entities from the proceeds of crime generated from illegal coal mining”.
The agency also claimed that an amount to the tune of Rs 1,352 crore has been illegally generated by Majhi through illegal coal mining in a span of less than two years.
“Investigation also revealed a deep system of political patronage and well-oiled network by which the system was subverted to carry out these illegal activities in a brazen manner,” it said.
Quoting the recorded statement of an unidentified “close associate” of Majhi, the ED said the alleged kingpin of this coal pilferage scam, Majhi did his “illegal coal mining business smoothly by managing senior functionaries of the political party of West Bengal though Inspector Mishra.”
It further claimed that accused Mishra collected money from illegal coal mining of Majhi and his associates for his closely associated political boss in the present ruling party. Mishra is youth leader of TMC and he is very close to Banerjee, it told the court, quoting the unidentified associate of Majhi.