Coal Smuggling Racket: CBI Raids 25 Places In Bengal
Date: 28/11/2020
In connection with a coal smuggling ring, the CBI's anti-corruption division today raided 25 locations in West Bengal, allegedly led by Anup Majhi, a kingpin based in Asansol. Offices and homes of Mr Majhi's associates in Asansol, Durgapur, and Raniganj in Burdwan district, as well as Bishnupur in Parganas district of South 24, are premised to be raided.
It was also claimed that certain places in Kolkata were being searched, but that has not yet been independently confirmed.
Mr. Majhi, also known as Lala, is suspected to have been working in open cast coal mines along the frontier between Bengal and Jharkhand. His coal scam, sources claimed, may have financed some of the state's political parties. Earlier this month, three income tax notices were issued on Majhi, but only two were noticed by him. Union Home Minister Amit Shah was visiting Kolkata at the same time. At a press conference at the end of his visit, Mr. Shah asked why Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was nervous about more raids against Mr Majhi.
Ms Banerjee herself challenged the coincidence of five central agencies' searches and arrests in West Bengal with the visit of the Home Minister. The CBI cracked down on a cattle smuggling case in the state in which the suspected kingpin was arrested almost concurrently with the IT investigation into Mr Majhi's alleged scam, but released on bail after checking COVID positive. In this context, a Border Security Force officer was also detained.
There is a potential link between cattle-smuggling and coal rackets under the scanner.
These raids come months before the 294-member West Bengal Assembly elections take place in April-May next year. The BJP has emerged as the biggest challenger of the ruling Trinamool Congress after having a small presence in the politically divided state for decades, by securing 18 of the 42 Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal in the 2019 general elections.
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