ED Arrests West Bengal Minister in Ration Scam

KOLKATA:  The Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested West Bengal minister Jyotipriyo Mallick early on Friday after raiding and searching two of his palatial residences in Salt Lake and questioning him there over 20 hours in a ration scam probe.

The central agency also seized Mallick's cellphone and froze his and his family members' bank accounts. Mallick, who is the state forest minister, is the third Trinamul Congress MLA and the second state minister to be in the ED net in various cases over the last one year.

He was accused of money laundering with his close aide, Bakibur Rahman, through the distribution of below quality and quantity of wheat earlier when he was the state food and supplies minister beginning from 2011. Rahman, who ran a syndicate of ration dealers and distributors, was arrested by the ED recently and is in its custody.

His revelations prompted the ED to zero in on Mallick, who however dodged questions during the marathon raid, according to sources. After his arrest at around 2.30 am, Mallick alleged, "I fell prey to a big conspiracy. The BJP has done a good job by hunting me. Leader of the opposition Suvendu Adhikari is behind everything."

In the afternoon a PMLA judge at the Bankshall Court remanded the three-time TMC MLA in ED custody till November 6 and directed the ED to admit him to Command Hospital for treatment under a medical board for any illness. Mullick immediately fainted in the courtroom. He was rushed in an ambulance to a private hospital from the court.

Protesting Mullick's arrest, state finance minister Shashi Panja claimed, "This action proves the end of the BJP here. Why don't the central agencies take steps against a scam accused like Adhikari?" Adhikari, however, targeted the CM.

He claimed on X, "I would urge the @dir_ed to probe the role of Mamata Banerjee in the huge WB Ration Distribution Scam:- Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee didn't appoint Jyotipriya Mallick as the Minister in Charge of the Food & Supplies Department; Govt of WB, in 2021 as she wanted to save him from the glare of Central Investigation Agencies, after engaging in mountainous corruption for a decade as the Food & Supplies Minister from 2011 to 2021. However, she wanted him to keep raising funds illegally and hand over the share of the proceeds to intended persons."