KOLKATA: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday submitted a chargesheet in connection with the sand smuggling case in Bengal at the Central agency’s special court located at Bichar Bhavan in Kolkata. The chargesheet primarily names 18 accused in the alleged scam involving around Rs 145 crore. According to ED sources, the list of accused includes businessman Arun Saraf and three of his employees. The chargesheet also names 14 companies among the 18 accused, including Arun’s company. Investigators submitted nearly 4,700 pages of documents along with the chargesheet. The next hearing in the case is scheduled for next Monday. ED sleuths, in connection with the investigation, recently conducted raids across the state. During one operation in November last year, Arun Saraf was arrested by the ED, accused of corruption amounting to approximately Rs 78 crore. ED officials had previously searched his office in Salt Lake, and in the first week of November, Arun was interrogated for about seven hours before being arrested at Bally in Howrah. Following his arrest, the ED conducted raids at various locations.
It is alleged that Arun smuggled sand through a specific company. Investigations revealed he did not maintain any account in his own name. Although he claimed to have sold sand worth Rs 103 crore, Rs 130 crore were deposited into his account. While in ED custody, searches at 13 locations uncovered discrepancies between the actual sand stock and the amounts recorded in official documents. The ED is inspecting sand stock at various locations and has found further inconsistencies.