The Enforcement Directorate (ED) searched 16 locations across Assam and West Bengal in its money-laundering probe into a syndicate smuggling foreign-origin areca nuts into India via the India-Myanmar border, targeting key transporters and firms.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday conducted searches at 16 locations across Assam and West Bengal as part of its money-laundering investigation into an alleged syndicate involved in the smuggling of foreign-origin areca nuts into India through the India-Myanmar border, officials said.
Key Individuals and Firms Searched
The ED’s Guwahati zonal office searched premises linked to Siliguri-based transporter Dhiraj Ghosh and his associates Binoy Barman and Sandeep Baid, besides Guwahati-based logistics firms Jai Karni Tradings Pvt Ltd and Purvottar Agro Pvt Ltd and businessman Navratan Baid, among others.
Syndicate’s Modus Operandi
According to officials, “the syndicate allegedly brought Indonesian and Thai areca nuts into Mizoram through Myanmar and used local residents as front proprietors of firms through which transactions worth hundreds of crores of rupees were allegedly routed.”
“The consignments were subsequently transported to gutka and pan masala manufacturers in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Maharashtra using allegedly forged GST and transport documents,” they said.
Probe into Extortion Network
The federal agency is also probing the alleged role of a Siliguri-based network that “collected monthly payments from truck operators in return for tokens purportedly guaranteeing unchecked movement of consignments from the Assam border through West Bengal and Bihar.”
Officials further said the searches are part of the ED’s probe into the suspected money-laundering network and its financial links. (ANI)
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