Bengal PDS case: ED files fresh supplementary charge sheet
Kolkata: Enforcement Directorate (ED), on Monday, filed a fresh supplementary charge sheet in the multi-crore ration distribution case in West Bengal.
This is the fifth supplementary charge sheet filed by the central agency at the special court of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in Kolkata.
Sources said that in the fresh supplementary charge sheet, the ED officials have named Santantu Bhattacharya, the personal chartered account of the former state Food and Supplies Minister Jyotipriya Mallick.
Mallick was arrested two years ago by the ED officials for his alleged involvement in the ration distribution case. However, last month he was released on bail by the special PMLA court.
In the fifth supplementary charge sheet, sources added that ED had named two other persons, namely Subrata Ghosh and Hitesh Chandak, both are rice mill owners.
Sources said that in the fresh supplementary charge sheet, the ED officials have detailed how the ill-gotten proceeds in the ration distribution case were diverted through the bank accounts of those named in the document.
Earlier, the ED officials claimed that Bhattacharya was mainly responsible for the accounting jugglery while managing the accounts of the former Minister. It is learnt that in the fresh supplementary charge sheet, the investigating officials have provided the details of the matter.
Earlier this month, the ED officials conducted marathon raids and search operations at three locations in West Bengal, namely Shyampur and Jagatballavpur in Howrah district and Santoshpur in South 24 Parganas district, in connection with the ration distribution case.
Of the three places where the raid and search operations are being conducted, one is the residence of a local businessman who is also in charge of a cooperative society engaged in purchasing food grain from the farmers.
Already during the course of the investigation, ED officials have brought under scanner several such cooperatives, that used to earn two-way profit through their operations. The first avenue of earning was purchasing food grain from the farmers at prices lower than the under-minimum support price.
The second avenue was selling a portion of the food grain purchased from the farmers at premium rates in the open markets instead of supplying the same to the state food & supplies department for distribution through the public distribution system,