Friday’s attack on the Enforcement Directorate officials conducting raids in North 24 Parganas Trinamool Congress strongman Shahjehan Sheikh’s house has wider angle than, ED sources say.
According to the ED officials the attack relates a larger “across the border money-smuggling racket” in which a number of TMC leaders including Shahjehan and Shankar Adhya a former chairman of Bongaon municipality are allegedly involved.
Most of such money siphoning is connected to ratio distribution and recruitment scams say agency sources adding the officials had raided Shahjehan and Adhya’s houses on Friday after getting specific leads regarding the matter.
A chance retrieval of a secret letter allegedly written by former Food Minister (presently State Forest Minister) Jyotipriya Mallick --- presently in jail custody for his alleged links to the ratio scam --- led to the raids, an official said. “The letter was written by Mallick who is presently in SSKM Hospital … in the letter he had directed someone to collect cash from Adhya and Shahjehan … this further confirmed the suspicion and a raid was planned,” a sources said.
In a parallel development, a report submitted by the ED to the Calcutta High Court says that the ration scam could go beyond Rs 10,000 crore mark considering the fact that Mallick was Food Minister for about 10 years.
“This Rs 10,000 crore is exclusive of the money generated from rice smuggling … and consider the fact that rice being the staple food is preferred to wheat both in Bengal and Bangladesh,” an official said. Out of the Rs 10,000 crore about Rs 2,700 crore was siphoned out by Shankar Adhya to Dubai where a number of ruling Trinamool Congress leaders have their business interests or properties, ED has told the High Court.
Like Shahjehan, Shankar Adhya who was arrested on Friday night too has business interests on both sides of the borders. “He used 19 money transferring agencies --- out of which some were his own --- to convert Indian currencies into foreign currencies … besides both these men used what they call carriers locally to smuggle out packets of currency notes to Bangladesh,” the ED has said.
“If the TMC runs on the theory of 75 per cent and 25 per cent policy where 75 per cent of the ill-gotten money has to be sent to the topmost leadership and if Jyotipriya Mallick has generated Rs 10,000 crore then you can consider the magnitude of the scams they perpetuated in Bengal,” State Opposition Leader Suvendu Adhikari said.
According to sources both the leaders who were raided on Friday have their business interests including star hotels at Digha, Puri and other tourists places as well as on both sides of the border. Besides, Shahjehan runs slaughter houses, numerous brick kilns, sand and earth queries, ferries. According to sources they earn cut money from lottery agents too. “Each lottery table has to give Rs 1,000 per day … multiply with the number of agents working in a district,” said ED officials.
