Sheikh Shahjahan diverted funds through fish export business: Sources

KOLKATA: Suspended Trinamool Congress leader Sheikh Shahjahan has diverted funds worth Rs 31 crore through his prawn and shrimp export business which was registered in the name of his daughter Sheikh Sabina.

ED sources said that a major portion of this “unaccounted money” is the ill-gotten proceeds of the multi-crore ration distribution case in West Bengal.

Besides diverting the scam proceeds through his businesses, Shahjahan is also accused of forcefully and illegally grabbing the farmland from the local villagers at Sandeshkhali and illegally converting them into pisciculture farms by flowing in saline water.

On Monday, a special court of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in Kolkata remanded Shahjahan to the ED custody till April 13.

He was first arrested in connection with the attack on ED and CAPF personnel at Sandeshkhali on January 5. He was taken into custody by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and then subsequently by the ED.