Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Shankar Adhya has been arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in an alleged ration distribution scam.
The arrest came a day after an ED team, which was on its way to raid another TMC leader’s residence, was attacked.
Shankar Adhya, the former chairman of Bangaon municipality, was arrested after an extensive search by the ED on the premises linked to him in West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas district. His wife Jyotsna Adhya claimed her husband was arrested despite cooperating with the probe agency officials during the investigation.
As Shankar Adhya was being taken away by central forces, there were protests from the locals.
The ED was conducting raids on the premises of Shankar Adhya and another TMC leader Sahajahan Sheikh in West Bengal in connection with the alleged ration distribution scam. According to the probe agency, nearly 30 per cent of the Public Distribution System (PDS) ration meant for beneficiaries in West Bengal was diverted to the open market.
Shankar Adhya is known to be an aide to arrested former food minister and current forest minister Jyotipriyo Mallick. He was the municipal chairman at Bangaon municipality from 2015 to 2020. Currently, he is one of the members of the TMC district advisory committee.
According to sources, during the investigation, his alleged involvement in the alleged ration distribution scam was found by the ED. Jyotipriyo Mallick had also taken his name during questioning by the probe agency, they added.
The ED said Shankar Adhya had been arrested for his alleged role in the scam. Sources further said the TMC leader had a rice mill and business of foreign money exchange in Bangaon. It is being investigated whether he laundered money through his business, which came through the scam.
ED TEAM ATTACKED
On Friday, the ED officials were attacked by a mob, allegedly by the supporters of Sahajahan Sheikh in Sandeshkali, when they were on the way to raid his residence in the alleged ration distribution scam. Their vehicles were also vandalised during the attack.
The probe agency said a group of “800-1,000 people” were involved in the attack “with an intention to cause death”.
The incident has triggered a political row with Governor CV Ananda Bose, saying it was the responsibility of the state government to prevent violence while calling the attack “ghastly”. He asserted that West Bengal was not a “banana republic”.