Kolkata: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday carried out extensive searches at nearly 40 locations across Bengal and Jharkhand in connection with its ongoing probe into the coal smuggling case.
Sources said about 200 officials from the ED’s Kolkata and Ranchi zonal offices, assisted by central forces, conducted raids at 24 locations in Bengal and around 18 in Jharkhand. In Bengal, the searches covered Kolkata, Howrah, Durgapur, Asansol and parts of Purulia district. In Jharkhand, operations were concentrated in Dhanbad and adjoining areas, with the agency focusing on individuals linked to the coal mining trade.
In one instance in Dhanbad, ED officers reaching a contractor’s residence were briefly delayed after the occupant reportedly released his pet dogs to obstruct the team’s entry. The officials eventually secured access and, according to sources, were stunned to find crores of rupees in cash along with large quantities of gold jewellery inside the premises.
Till last reports came in, the agency had seized about Rs 15 crore, besides substantial unaccounted cash and gold jewellery. Officials also recovered numerous incriminating documents, digital records and details of complex financial transactions that are now under examination.