Ex Bengal Minister's Assets Worth More Than Rs 150 Crore Attached In Ration Scam

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday said it has attached assets worth more than Rs 150 crore linked to former West Bengal food minister Jyoti Priya Mallick and two others in a PDS ration "scam"-linked money laundering case.

The other two accused are Mallick's alleged aide and rice and flour miller Bakibur Rahaman, and TMC leader Shankar Adhya. All three have been arrested by the federal agency in the case and are currently lodged in jail under judicial custody.

The attached assets include 48 immovable properties of different people and entities including Mallick's house in Salt Lake, Bolpur, several other "benami properties" held in the name of his close associates, two hotels of Rahaman in Kolkata and Bengaluru each, bank balance in various accounts and fixed deposits, the ED said in a statement.

Mallick allegedly "received" some of these immovable properties worth more than crores of rupees as "gifts" in the name of his family members or close associates, it said.

Adhya is a TMC leader from Bongaon under North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal.

An ED team that had gone to search his place was attacked by a mob and their vehicle was damaged on January 5. The same day, another agency team was assaulted when it went to search the premises of TMC leader Shajahan Sheikh in the district's Sandeshkhali area.

The ED said the book value of these assets is Rs 50.47 crore while their market value is estimated to be significantly more than Rs 150 crore.

It has claimed that "proceeds of crime" worth more than Rs 10,000 crore were generated through this alleged scam which the agency began investigating after taking cognisance of some West Bengal Police FIRs.

The ED complaint alleged that some private persons were found in unauthorised possession of rations meant for delivery through the Public Distribution System (PDS) and were also found to be involved in bogus procurement of paddy.

It alleged that there were majorly three ways through which the PDS ration was pilfered and the alleged scam was perpetrated. These included siphoning of PDS ration to open market, mixing old wheat flour in fresh flour meant for PDS distribution and bogus paddy procurement at Minimum Support Price (MSP).

A "huge" amount of the proceeds was "laundered" to Dubai and other countries by converting the Indian rupee into foreign currencies through full-fledged money changer companies owned or controlled by Adhya, the ED has claimed.

So far, the agency has filed two charge sheets in this case against Mallick, Rahaman and a company called NPG Rice Mill.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)