New Delhi : The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has moved a Delhi court to declare former Trinamool Congress (TMC) youth wing leader Vinay Mishra a fugitive economic offender (FEO) in cases linked to alleged coal and cattle smuggling in West Bengal, people familiar with the development said.
The Enforcement Directorate has moved a Delhi court to declare former Trinamool Congress youth wing leader Vinay Mishra a fugitive economic offender (FEO)
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The agency moved the special court on September 2 under Sections 4 and 12 of the Fugitive Economic Offenders (FEO) Act, 2018, seeking to declare Mishra a fugitive economic offender and confiscate his properties, according to a copy of the application seen by HT.
Introduced by the government in 2018 to deter economic offenders from evading Indian law by remaining outside the jurisdiction of Indian courts, the fugitive tag empowers authorities to confiscate the proceeds of crime and assets, where the amount involved is above ₹100 crore. The law also bars a declared fugitive economic offender from filing or defending civil claims in Indian courts.
If the court approves the ED’s request, Mishra will join the ranks of high-profile fugitives declared economic offenders, including Nirav Modi, Vijay Mallya, Iqbal Mirchi’s wife Hajra Memon and sons Junaid and Asif, and arms dealer Sanjay Bhandari, an officer requesting anonymity said.
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Mishra fled India in 2020 and later acquired citizenship of Vanuatu, a Pacific island nation. According to the ED, his brother Vikas Mishra received “proceeds of crime worth ₹730 crore on behalf of some influential persons and for themselves” in 2021 in connection with alleged illegal coal mining. The irregularities are estimated to be worth around ₹1,352 crore.
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Mishra fled India in 2020 and later acquired citizenship of Vanuatu, a Pacific island nation. According to the ED, his brother Vikas Mishra received “proceeds of crime worth ₹730 crore on behalf of some influential persons and for themselves” in 2021 in connection with alleged illegal coal mining. The irregularities are estimated to be worth around ₹1,352 crore.
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Vinay Mishra is also accused in a 2020 money laundering case linked to alleged cattle smuggling in West Bengal. The ED filed a charge sheet against him in April 2022 and has identified proceeds of crime worth more than ₹400 crore in the case.
The agency has alleged that cattle seized by the Border Security Force (BSF) were undervalued and auctioned with the help of some customs officers, allowing traders to buy them at throwaway prices and sell them in Bangladesh. A part of the proceeds allegedly went to some TMC leaders and government officers, the ED said in 2022.
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In the coal pilferage case, the ED initiated its probe based on a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) first information report (FIR) registered in November 2020.
After arresting Ashok Kumar Mishra, former inspector-in-charge of Bankura police station, the ED told a Delhi court in April 2021 that West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s nephew Abhishek Banerjee was a beneficiary of funds generated through illegal mining, which was allegedly flourishing in the state under the patronage of the ruling party.
Abhishek Banerjee and his wife Rujira were also questioned by the ED in connection with the case in March and June 2022, respectively.
“Investigation revealed a deep system of political patronage and well-oiled network by which the system was subverted to carry out these illegal activities in a brazen manner,” the ED said in a 2021 statement.
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HT could not locate Mishra’s legal representative.
Neeraj Chauhan is a senior journalist with Hindustan Times and an investigative reporter specialising in national security, terrorism, organised crime, narcotics, corruption, financial crime and complex investigations. With over 21 years of experience across Hindustan Times, The Times of India, The Indian Express and The Pioneer, he has built deep expertise in India’s internal security and law-enforcement landscape. Neeraj has extensively covered India’s principal investigative, intelligence and security agencies, including the NIA, CBI, ED, IB, R&AW, MHA and other central security forces. His work has included deeply reported investigations into terrorism, terror financing, cross-border crime, narcotics trafficking, cybercrime, financial fraud and political and corporate corruption. He has reported on some of the most significant terror attacks and security developments in India over the past two decades, including the Delhi serial blasts, the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, the 2019 Pulwama terror attack and the recent Pahalgam attack. His reporting has also chronicled the rise and decline of the Indian Mujahideen, the activities and subsequent crackdown on the Popular Front of India (PFI), Islamist extremist networks, the conflict in Jammu and Kashmir, insurgencies in the Northeast and Maoist violence. Some of Neeraj’s major breaking stories are in Aryan Khan drug case, Sushant Singh Rajput suicide, interception of a 3,000-kg Afghan heroin consignment worth about ₹21,000 crore at Mundra port, Sri Lanka easter bombings, Aarushi-Hemraj murders in Noida, 2G scam, coal block allocation scam, AgustWestland VVIP chopper deal and major bank frauds and extradition cases involving Mehul Choksi, Nirav Modi and Vijay Mallya. His reporting is marked by an ability to cultivate sources, analyse confidential and complex documents, and follow investigations over several years—from the initial breakthrough to chargesheets, trials and international legal proceedings. He specialises in making complicated security and investigative developments accessible while examining their wider implications for governance and public policy. A Chevening South Asia Journalism Programme Fellow at the University of Westminster, Neeraj also spent time at the Financial Times as part of the fellowship. He was also a Robert Bosch Media Ambassadors India-Germany Fellow, studying at the University of Tübingen and working with Der Tagesspiegel in Berlin. He has previously taught investigative journalism and crime reporting as a guest faculty member at the Times School of Journalism. Over more than two decades, Neeraj has established himself as an authoritative voice on India’s national security and investigative landscape, with his reporting closely followed by officials, investigators, lawyers, policymakers and readers seeking insight into some of the country’s most complex and consequential developments.
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Home/India News/ED seeks fugitive tag for former TMC youth wing leader Vinay Mishra
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