ED Summons Eight West Bengal IPS Officers in Coal Smuggling Case

Among the officers summoned include Gyanwant Singh (ADG, CID), Koteswara Rao, Sukesh Kumar Jain and Tathagata Basu

Seven of these eight officers were summoned by the ED last year as well.

(Photo: iStock)

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has summoned eight senior police officers in West Bengal to New Delhi to be questioned regarding their connection with the coal smuggling case, officials said on Thursday, 11 August.

Some of the IPS officers summoned include Gyanwant Singh (ADG, CID), Koteswara Rao, S Selvamurugan, Shyam Singh, Rajeev Mishra, Sukesh Kumar Jain and Tathagata Basu, officials told PTI.

The IPS officers have been given specific dates to appear before the ED at its Delhi office, they added.

The ED official said:

"These IPS officers played crucial roles in the coal smuggling case. There is evidence that these officers benefited from the scam. All of them were posted in areas where the smuggling happened."

Seven of these eight officers were summoned by the ED last year as well.

What Is the West Bengal Coal Scam?

The Bengal coal smuggling case allegedly involves illegal mining and smuggling of coal worth crores of rupees across Bengal's borders to Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, and Bihar with the help of government officials and politicians.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had registered an FIR in November 2020 against Anup Majhi, famously known as Lala, and his deputy Joydeb Mondol, both of whom are allegedly the kingpins of this multi-crore scam.

The two were questioned by the CBI and the ED for their alleged involvement in this illegal coal empire worth Rs 20,000 crore at an undisclosed location in November 2020.

Later, Majhi confessed in a written statement that he would routinely pay money for 20 years to influential politicians in Bengal for operating unhindered.

This alleged confession came after the cops from Dhanbad had arrested the drivers and cleaners transporting the coal from Asansol, Durgapur, and Dhanbad, and subsequently raided Majhi and Mondol's offices.

Both have been absconding since then. The CBI had issued a lookout notice against them last year.

(With inputs from PTI.)