KOLKATA: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) was on Friday conducting simultaneous raids and search operations in multiple locations in West Bengal, including the state capital Kolkata, in connection with a multi-crore coal smuggling scam.
Sources said the central investigating agency officials are also conducting parallel raids and search operations in some locations in neighbouring Jharkhand, including the state’s coal belt of Dhanbad.
Although the exact number of places in these two states where the raid and search operations were not known at the time the report was filed, sources said that the number will not be less than 20.
The places in West Bengal where simultaneous raid and search operations are being conducted since early morning include the offices and residences of coal traders and coal mining contractors in Kolkata, Salt Lake (in the northern outskirts of Kolkata), Howrah, and the state’s coal belt of Asansol in West Burdwan district.