The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday arrested West Bengal Minister Jyotipriyo Mallick in a money laundering case linked to an alleged multi-core ration distribution scam in the state. He was apprehended under the PMLA in the early hours following over 17-18 hours of questioning.
ED officials stated that Mallick was taken from his home in the Salt Lake area on the outskirts of Kolkata to the central agency’s office here around 3.30 am. Mallick, who is a diabetic patient and has several other ailments, was taken to an ESI hospital in Joka in the southern part of the city, where he is undergoing medical tests.
The ED officer told media, “Medical tests of the state minister are being conducted. These are routine tests. We will take him to the court where we will seek his custody.” “I am a victim of a great conspiracy,” the TMC minister stated that after being arrested by ED in connection with the alleged ration distribution scam.
Mallick also alleged that the “conspiracy was hatched by the BJP and its leader Suvendu Adhikari”, a former colleague in the TMC party.“It is a conspiracy. The BJP is actively engaged in plotting nefarious schemes against us,” stated Mallick, who is currently state forest minister and previously held the portfolio of food and supplies.
Earlier, the ED arrested a confidant of the minister, Bakibur Rahman, whose remand is ending this week. Sources stated that the central agency may seek to confront the two with each other’s version of events in the case.
Mallick’s arrest is the 2nd instance of a TMC cabinet minister being apprehended by central agencies in connection with corruption cases. Last year, former state minister Partha Chatterjee was arrested by the ED in a case related to a school job scam.
The agency launched searches at Mallick’s residences on Thursday. It also raided his ancestral house on Amherst Street in central Kolkata. The alleged scam pertains to reported irregularities in the public distribution system and also in the distribution of food grains during the Covid lockdowns.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee threatened to file a police complaint if anything happened to Mallick during the questioning as he was unwell and had several medical ailments.
Banerjee also termed the raids by the ED against opposition leaders as “a dirty political game” by the BJP.
The Trinamool Congress, which previously termed the raids at Mallick’s residence as “vendetta politics”, is yet to issue an official response following his arrest.
Asked about Mallick’s arrest, state Food and Supplies Minister Rathin Ghosh stated, “It won’t be right to draw any conclusion now when the investigation is still on. Let the investigation be over.”
Party leader and state minister Shashi Panja also criticised the raids at Mallick’s residences, asserting that “this is an attack on the culture of Bengal at the time of ‘Bijoya Dasami’ and is nothing but vendetta politics.” In response to the arrest of the state minister, the BJP stated it was “expected” considering the pace of the investigation in the case.
BJP state spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya stated, “The arrest was anticipated after the revelations made by one of his associates, who was apprehended a few days ago. It has once again been proven that the TMC is deeply mired in corruption.”
Taking to X, formerly, Twitter, leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari stated, “Henceforth, the meeting of the state cabinet will be convened inside the jail.” In the past one year, 2 other MLAs and TMC Birbhum district president Anubrata Mondal have been arrested in connection with school job scams and cattle smuggling cases by central agencies.