KOLKATA: On Saturday, Enforcement Directorate (ED) personnel carried out searches at three different locations in Kolkata and seized a sizable sum of cash from the person of a city-based businessman.
Even though the counting process of currency notes in Rs 500 and Rs 2,000 denominations are yet to be finished, as per the estimates of the central agency officials, the recovered money would be to the tune of around Rs 7 crore. The Enforcement Directorate teams set off on Saturday morning from the agency's central government office (CGO) complex office in Salt Lake, accompanied by members of the central armed forces.
The first team arrived at an advocate's home in a multi-story housing complex at 34 Macleod Street, which is beneath the police stations on Park Street.
The second team conducted a raid at Nisar Ali's Garden Reach home on Shahi Astabal Lane. The enormous trunk containing the massive money notes with denominations of Rs. 500 and Rs. 2,000 was then found by the ED officers. The ED immediately informed a local branch to depute staff with currency counting machines. Till the latest updates available, the counting of notes was still on.
ED sources claimed Khan was unable to identify the sources of this enormous sum of money. Although he purportedly operated a transport company, it has come to light that he was actually involved in a variety of financial theft schemes. The officials (ED) are also questioning his youngest son Amir.
The residence of a garment trader on Mayurbhanj Road is currently the target of simultaneous raids and searches by the third team of ED officials.
This is the third significant cash recovery by ED from Kolkata in less than two months.
In two phases at Arpita Mukherjee's two residences, the close assistant of the former West Bengal education minister Partha Chatterjee, the ED officials recovered about Rs 50 crore in late July as they investigated the multi-million dollar West Bengal School Service Commission recruitment irregularities scam.
Both Chatterjee and Mukherjee are reportedly under judicial custody.
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