Coal smuggling case: ED raids multiple locations in Bengal

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday fanned out across West Bengal and neighbouring Jharkhand in a sweeping series of dawn raids tied to the multi-crore coal smuggling scam that has long cast a shadow over the region’s mining corridors.

From the bustling heart of Kolkata to the coal-dusted stretches of Asansol and Dhanbad, teams of ED officers — escorted by Central Armed Police Forces — moved with quiet precision, knocking on doors, entering offices, and combing through properties linked to traders, contractors, and businessmen woven into the coal economy.

Sources suggest the scale of the operation is vast, with no fewer than 20 locations under simultaneous scrutiny. In West Bengal, the search net spans the upscale lanes of Salt Lake, the river-hugging industrial district of Howrah, and the state’s coal heartland in West Burdwan.

Among the most prominent targets is the office and residence of a high-profile contractor associated with Bharat Coking Coal Limited (BCCL) in Asansol, along with the home of his younger brother.

In Salt Lake, investigators are stationed outside the residences of two businessmen tied to coal trading and exports. Another team has reached the home of a trader in Salap Crossing, just beyond Kolkata’s borders.

The coordinated sweeps come at a pivotal moment. While the ED continues to unravel the financial threads of the alleged smuggling network, the CBI — running a parallel probe — recently informed the court that its own investigation is nearing completion.

The ED’s intensified activity appears to signal a renewed push to trace the flow of illicit money even as the larger criminal framework reaches a legal inflection point.

As officers pore over documents and digital records, the coal belt once again finds itself at the centre of a storm — one driven not by miners’ drills but by the hum of enforcement teams determined to unearth the secrets buried beneath years of clandestine dealings.

With IANS inputs