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Why ED arrested I-PAC co-founder Vinesh Chandel days before West Bengal assembly polls
This arrest comes weeks after the central agency raided his Delhi property in relation to the charges.
Just ten days before the highly-anticipated assembly elections in West Bengal, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested Vinesh Chandel on Monday. Chandel is the co-founder and director of the political consultancy firm I-PAC, whose clients include the ruling Trinamool Congress.
Chandel was arrested by ED on Monday night on money laundering charges linked to an alleged coal scam in the state. This arrest comes weeks after the central agency raided his Delhi property in relation to the charges.
However, this is not the first time I-PAC found itself under the scanner of the ED. In January, Pratik Jain, who is one of the directors of the political consultancy, was raided by ED officials in Kolkata. This raid sparked a major controversy and a case in the Supreme Court after chief minister Mamata Banerjee stormed in with government officials.
The TMC supremo has also been accused by the central agency of taking crucial evidence from the scene as she interrupted the raid.
After the January raid at Jain's house, I-PAC said in a statement that its role is limited to transparent, professional political consulting, that is free of influence from political ideology.
“We believe this [the raids] raises serious concerns and sets an unsettling precedent. Regardless, we have extended full cooperation... engaging with the process in complete accordance and respect for the law,” the statement added further.
Why was Chandel arrested?
As per reports, the ED has linked the case against Chandel to an FIR filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation in 2020. The police report alleged that a coal pilferage in Eastern Coalfields Ltd's mines in West Bengal's Kunustoria and Kajora, in and around Asansol.
The central agency has added that a "hawala" linked to the coal-smuggling ring that helped move tens of crores of rupees to I-PAC.
The I-PAC director has been remanded to 10-day custody of the ED. TMC's Abhishek Banerjee had also been accused of having links to the coal scam
