Kolkata, Nov 10 (IANS) The Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) Kolkata Zonal Office has arrested Arun Saraf, the promoter of G.D. Mining Private Limited, in illegal sand mining and transportation using forged road e-challans case, the central probe agency said in a statement on Monday.

The arrest was made on November 6 under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.

He has been remanded to the ED custody till November 14.

The ED had initiated the investigation based on various FIRs registered by West Bengal Police for theft and illegal sale of sand and transportation using forged road e-challans issued by G.D. Mining Private Limited.

According to one of the FIRs, two sand-loaded trucks were found near Bhasra Bridge, which were transporting stolen sand using fake road e-challans.

In these FIRs, the fake/forged road e-challans were found to be issued by G.D. Mining Private Limited and the concerned vehicles as well as forged road e-challans were seized by the police authorities.

The ED investigation said that Arun Saraf, who used to take major decisions in his business activities, had played a pivotal role in organising the scam to a larger extent and earning huge income out of it.

In this case, the ED conducted searches at 16 premises in Kolkata and Jhargram in September this year.

The searches resulted in seizure of Rs 29 lakh from the premises of G.D. Mining Private Limited, including certain incriminating documents and digital evidence.

The details of various movable and immovable properties of searched entities were also gathered, the agency said.

The ED investigation added that forged/invalid challans were being used for illegal transportation of stolen sand from river/stock points.

The accused persons/entities used to move the stolen sand illegally from the stock points that have been obtained through allotted or auctioned mines/stock points.

Investigation has further revealed that illegal cash generated through aforesaid activities has been merged into the regular books of accounts by unexplained cash deposits.

By adopting these fraudulent methods, accused persons/entities engaged in large-scale theft, illegal transportation and sale of sand and this has led to undue enrichment of various people.

–IANS

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