Over dozen ED raids on I-PAC, cop, businessmen, former minister, actor ahead of West Bengal polls

In the past month alone, the agency has mounted over a dozen operations, with ED officials terming the crackdown crucial to unearth financial irregularities.

Updated on: Apr 22, 2026, 09:27:48 IST

By Neeraj Chauhan , New Delhi

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It isn’t just the political parties that have been busy in West Bengal over the past month, in the run-up to the assembly elections in the state (the first phase of the two-phase election is on Thursday); federal investigating agency Enforcement Directorate (ED) has been in the thick of action too, conducting high-profile raids, carrying out arrests, attaching properties, and filing charge sheets.

I-PAC works with the TMC and the latter has claimed that a conspiracy was being orchestrated by the BJP to cripple its campaign through intimidation. (HT File)

In the past month alone, according to details compiled by HT, the agency has mounted over a dozen operations, with officials in ED terming the crackdown crucial to unearth financial irregularities.

An ED officer, who didn’t want to be named, said “all of its action is in ongoing probes and has been taken by following due process”.

However, the ruling party in the state has said that the Bharatiya Janata Party has weaponised investigative agencies ahead of the assembly elections.

ED’s most prominent action has been against the Indian Political Action Committee or I-PAC , first raided on April 2 in a fresh case related to its unaccounted funding; this was followed by the arrest of its director, Vinesh Chandel, on April 13. The agency has alleged that it has detected proceeds of crime worth ₹50 crore linked to I-PAC so far. The federal agency issued a summons last week to another I-PAC director, Pratik Jain’s wife, Barbie, and brother Pulkit. On April 14, the agency also attached assets worth ₹159 crore in its separate probe related to the alleged coal mining in West Bengal, an investigation in which I-PAC was raided in January this year.

I-PAC works with the TMC, and the latter has claimed that a conspiracy was being orchestrated by the BJP to cripple its campaign through intimidation.

Another high-profile ED action was seen in West Bengal on April 19, when the agency launched raids at the residence of Kolkata police Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Shantanu Sinha Biswas, and businessman, Joy Kamdar (managing director of Sun Enterprise) in a money laundering case pertaining to various criminal activities such as extortion, grabbing of real estate properties, and unauthorized construction.

Kamdar was arrested the same day, while summons were issued to Biswas, who is under ED’s scanner in two other cases, including one pertaining to the misuse of the NRI quota in admissions to private medical colleges in West Bengal. In the Joy Kamdar investigation, ED had previously issued summons to Gaurav Lal, IPS, Joint Commissioner of Police, Howrah Police Commissionerate on April 13.

Also Read | Why ED arrested I-PAC co-founder Vinesh Chandel days before West Bengal assembly polls

The federal agency , on April 22, summoned Bengali actor and former TMC member of Parliament Nusrat Jahan in connection with its investigation into the diversion of PDS (public distribution system) ration in the state.

On Tuesday, it summoned the former principal secretary (education) of West Bengal, Manish Jain in connection with the irregularities in the assistant teacher recruitment. The premises of former minister Partha Chatterjee were raided on April 11 in connection with the case.

Last week, the financial crimes probe agency also raided a Kolkata-based real estate firm, Merlin Group, promoted by Sushil Mohta and Saket Mohta. It is alleged that the accused fabricated and forged documents and fraudulently grabbed various parcels of land, including public land, in the state.

Former Rajya Sabha MP Santanu Sen said, “ED has become a tool of the BJP, and it is now known to everybody. If you see the chronology, whenever there is an election in opposition-ruled states, ED, as well as CBI, are used as political tools to intimidate opposition leaders.”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Neeraj Chauhan
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.Read More

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