ED raids nearly a dozen places in Bengal, Jharkhand in illegal land grabbing case

NEW DELHI: Officials of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday conducted searches at nearly one dozen locations in West Bengal and Jharkhand in a money laundering case against those illegally occupying Indian Army lands, sources said.

As per sources, the raids are going on at nearly four places in West Bengal and eight in Jharkhand.  The places searched included residential and office premises of a Kolkata-based businessman Amit Agrawal and several others, sources said.

As per sources, Agrawal was earlier arrested by the Enforcement Directorate, and the raids were planned after his revelation in the case.

It is learnt that several acres of Army land in Jharkhand were illegally occupied in connivance with 'land mafias' and politicians.

The Enforcement Directorate last month arrested Amit Agrawal in connection with a money laundering case. ED officials arrested Amit Agrawal in the connection with a seizure of Rs 50 lakh from an advocate Rajiv Kumar in Kolkata on July 31.

Agrawal, who is lodged in the Birsa Munda Central Jail in Jharkhand, is accused of allegedly giving the money to Kumar for getting his name removed from a public interest litigation filed in Jharkhand high court. The ED has also filed a prosecution complaint against Agrawal in the PMLA court.