Kolkata, March 28 (IANS) The officials of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) have been conducting simultaneous raids and search operations in different locations in West Bengal since Saturday morning, including the state capital of Kolkata and its outskirts, in connection with a land-scam case.

Sources aware of the development said, among the places where the central agency officials are conducting simultaneous raids and search operations, include the office and the residence of an influential city-based businessman, having close links with the ruling Trinamool Congress.

However, the ED officials refused to disclose the name of the said businessman.

Sources said that the raids and search operations by the ED officials, escorted by the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) personnel, started early on Saturday morning with the residence of the said businessman at a high-profile residential complex at the posh Ballygunge Circular Road area in South Kolkata.

The main allegation against the said businessman and the company owned by him is illegal land procurement and duping investors by alluring them to invest in specific projects, assuring handsome returns on investments, among others.

ED, sources said, started its investigation into the matter following several FIRs registered against the company and its owner at different police stations in the state.

The officers of the agency are currently examining the different accounts-related papers of the company, bank accounts-related details, and the land deeds, among others.

While conducting the raid and search operations, the ED officials are also questioning different top officials and directors of the said corporate entity.

ED’s simultaneous raid and search operations since Saturday morning are happening amid the crucial two-phase Assembly elections in West Bengal on April 24 and April 29, with the Model Code of Conduct already in force.

To recall, on January 8 this year, the ED officials faced resistance while attempting raid and search operations at the office of the Indian Action Political Committee (I-PAC) and the residence of its co-founder, Pratik Jain.

While the raid and search operations were on, the West Bengal Chief Minister, Mamata Banerjee, accompanied by top bureaucrats and police officers from the state, appeared at both the residence of Jain and the office of I-PAC one after another, and left with some files.

A case in this matter is currently being heard at the Supreme Court. Incidentally, I-PAC is the voter strategy agency of Trinamool Congress.

–IANS

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