Rs 14 Crore cash jewelry seize

Crime

Rs 14 Crore cash jewelry seized in ED's coal scam raid

It seems that the organised coal mafiosi were running gold mines in disguise as traders that have been exposed during a well tuned raid by over a hundred Enforcement Directorate sleuths.

The extensive raids carried out across Bengal and Jharkhand on Friday collectively made seizures of hefty cash and jewelleries worth over Rs 14 crore. The sudden raid was kicked off as part of a probe into an alleged illegal coal mining and smuggling network operating across the two states. Some Jharkhand based realtors currently operating in Bengal, according to the sources, have been brought under scanner, sources said.

According to an official statement, the searches were conducted under Section 17 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, and targeted individuals and entities suspected of participating in a longstanding coal theft, transportation, and sale racket. The officials also recovered several property deeds linked to the alleged syndicate, documents related to land dealings, digital devices, and books of accounts belonging to companies reportedly controlled by the accused.

In Jharkhand, raids were carried out at 20 locations in Dhanbad and Dumka, covering premises associated with Lal Bahadur Singh, Anil Goyal, Sanjay Khemka, and Amar Mondal. In Bengal, ED teams searched 24 locations across Durgapur, Purulia, Howrah, and Kolkata, including residences, offices, illegal toll booths, and coke plants tied to individuals such as Narendra Kharka, Krishna Murari Kayal, Yudhishthir Ghosh, Raj Kishore Yadav, Lokesh Singh, Chinmay Mondal, and Nirad Baran Mondal. More than 100 ED officers, supported by CRPF personnel, were involved in the coordinated operation.

The crackdown was designed following multiple FIRs registered by police in both states, which allege that a wide network has been moving coal from Jharkhand into West Bengal using forged or invalid documents. Diaries, registers, seized documents, and digital data, according to ED officials, have corroborated claims of a large illegal supply chain and hinted at the involvement of local authorities. Register entries detailing illegal cash collections and beneficiary lists were also recovered, offering investigators key insights into the financial flow of the suspected racket.

The ED said the syndicate was particularly active in border districts and generated “huge proceeds of crime.” The agency noted that further scrutiny of the seized material is in progress, and further developments are expected as the investigations are still in progress.