ED attaches assets worth over Rs 15 crore in Bengal coal mining case

NEW DELHI: Assets worth more than Rs 15 crore of two "close associates" of Anup Majee, the alleged kingpin of a coal mining and pilferage-linked money laundering case in West Bengal, have been attached, the ED said Tuesday.

The properties belong to Joydeb Mondal and Gurupada Maji, it said.

The total value of the attached assets, as part of a provisional order issued under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), is Rs 15.50 crore.

Mondal and Maji are "close associates and business partners of Anup Majee alias Lala in illegal coal mining activities", the Enforcement Directorate (ED) said in a statement.

Maji was arrested by the federal agency in May under the criminal sections of the PMLA.

The ED case of money laundering stems from a November, 2020 FIR registered by the CBI that 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.

A chargesheet was filed by the ED in the case in May last year.

The agency has said that the total proceeds of crime in the case stands at Rs 1,352 crore.

"Maji delivered proceeds of crime of Rs 89.11 crore and Mondal delivered proceeds of crime of Rs 58.05 crore during 2017-2020 through associates of Anup Majee."

Maji, the ED alleged, used six Kolkata-based shell or bogus companies for laundering the proceeds of crime.

Abhishek Banerjee, TMC MP and nephew of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, and his wife Rujira have been questioned in this case by the ED.

A total of three people have been arrested by the ED as part of this investigation, including Maji, Vikas Mishra, brother of TMC youth wing leader Vinay Mishra, and former inspector in-charge of the Bankura police station Ashok Kumar Mishra.

Vinay Mishra was recently declared a proclaimed offender by a Delhi court for evading court proceedings in this case.