Daijiworld Media Network - Kolkata
Kolkata, Feb 14: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday provisionally attached assets worth Rs 100.44 crore under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, in connection with its ongoing investigation into alleged large-scale illegal coal mining and pilferage in leasehold areas of Eastern Coalfields Limited (ECL).
According to the central agency, the illegal mining operations were carried out by a syndicate led by Anup Majee, alias ‘Lala’.
“Investigation has revealed that the syndicate was engaged in illegal excavation and large-scale pilferage of coal. The illegally excavated coal was distributed to various factories in West Bengal with the active assistance of the local administration,” the ED said.
During the probe, the agency allegedly uncovered that Majee introduced an illegal transport challan, widely referred to as the ‘Lala pad’, which functioned as a tax invoice issued in the name of non-existent firms. “Along with the fake transport challan, a currency note of Rs 10 or Rs 20 was provided to the transporter. The transporter would take a photograph of the said currency note while holding it beside the number plate of the truck, dumper, or tipper carrying the illegal coal and send the image to the operator of the coal syndicate,” the ED said.
The operator would then circulate the photograph via WhatsApp to police officials and other government authorities along the vehicle’s route, ensuring the truck was either not intercepted or immediately released if stopped.
Seized records indicate the generation of proceeds of crime amounting to approximately Rs 2,742 crore. Evidence analysed during the PMLA investigation, including registers, digital records, Tally data, and WhatsApp communications, revealed systematic cash transactions and the use of hawala channels for transferring and layering the proceeds of crime.
On the hawala network, the ED explained: “Investigation has further revealed that the syndicate operated an underground hawala system to transfer proceeds of crime in cash, bypassing formal banking channels and regulatory oversight. In a typical transaction, the recipient would share a unique code with the sender, usually the serial number of a Rs 10 or other denomination currency note. This serial number functioned as the transaction’s authentication key.”
The sender would relay this code to a hawala operator, who would communicate it to an associate at the recipient’s location. Upon delivery of the agreed cash amount, the recipient would present the currency note with the pre-shared serial number as proof of identity. Once verified, the cash was handed over, completing the transaction without any formal documentation or banking record. “This system enabled the movement of large sums of money across locations through a network of intermediaries operating outside the regulated financial system,” the agency added.
The ED further stated that certain steel and iron sector companies knowingly purchased illegally excavated coal in cash, thereby using and projecting the proceeds of crime as untainted. The attached assets include immovable property, fixed deposits, and mutual fund investments in the names of Shakambhari Ispat and Power Limited and Gagan Ferrotech Limited. With this latest attachment, the total value of assets attached in the case now stands at Rs 322.71 crore.
In January, the ED conducted searches at ten premises in Kolkata and Delhi. The evidence collected during these operations has been instrumental in linking the proceeds of crime to the properties now being attached, the agency said.