ED recovers additional assets documents of arrested Bengal minister in ration case

Kolkata, Dec 20 (IANS) The Enforcement Directorate (ED) announced that it has recovered documents about additional financial assets of Jyotipriya Mallick, the West Bengal Minister arrested in connection with the multi-crore ration distribution case in the state.The documents were recovered after marathon raid and search operations conducted at the headquarters of the state forest department on Tuesday.According to the ED, irregularities in ration distribution occurred when Mallick, who is the incumbent state Forest Minister, held the Food & Supplies portfolio from 2011 to 2021.Informed sources said the ED found documents of assets worth Rs 10 crore in the form of fixed deposits and life insurance certificates. They were recovered from Mallick’s chamber at the forest department’s headquarters in Aranya Bhavan, Kolkata.Besides the financial assets documents, the probe agency also recovered around 600 blank stamp-papers.The central agency sleuths suspect that these blank stamp-papers were to be used for purchase of additional property.The latest recovered documents were in additional to those mentioned in the first charge sheet filed by ED at a special court in Kolkata earlier this month, where Mallick and arrested businessman Bakibur Rahaman have been identified as the principal masterminds in the case.The ED suspects that even after being replaced as the state food & supplies minister in 2021, Mallick’s involvement in the ration distribution case continued, the sources added.–IANSsrc/ksk