In a major development ahead of the West Bengal Assembly polls, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday arrested Vinesh Chandel, co-founder and director of political consultancy firm I-PAC, in a money-laundering case linked to an alleged coal scam.
An official said Chandel was taken into custody in Delhi under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) late in the evening. He is likely to be produced before a special court, where the agency will seek his custodial remand.
Earlier on April 2, the ED had conducted raids at Chandel’s premises in Delhi, as well as those of I-PAC co-founder Rishi Raj Singh in Bengaluru and former AAP communications in-charge Vijay Nair in Mumbai, as part of the probe.
The federal probe agency conducted raids in connection with the case on January 8 at the I-PAC office and the Kolkata residence of its founder and one of the directors, Pratik Jain, leading to a controversy after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee arrived at the said location along with state government officials and took away documents.
The ED had said its searches against I-PAC and Jain in Kolkata were "obstructed" by Banerjee, claiming relevant documents and gadgets were forcibly taken away by her and the state administration.
The chief minister and the TMC had countered these allegations, saying said the ED was attempting to take its election-strategy-related documents from I-PAC premises just before the assembly polls in the state.
West Bengal will have a two-phase poll on April 23 and April 29.
I-PAC has been providing political consultancy to the TMC and the West Bengal government since 2021.
The ED sought a CBI probe into this "gross abuse of power" by the CM from the Supreme Court, which is currently hearing the case.
The ED case stems from a November 2020 FIR of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) that has alleged a multi-crore-rupee coal-pilferage scam related to Eastern Coalfields Limited mines in West Bengal's Kunustoria and Kajora areas, in and around Asansol.
The ED had said in a statement that a "hawala" operator linked to this alleged coal-smuggling ring had facilitated transactions of tens of crores of rupees to Indian PAC Consulting Private Limited, the registered company of I-PAC.
(With inputs from PTI)
