Bengal minister Jyotipriyo Mallick remanded to ED’s custody in ‘ration scam’

KOLKATA, Oct 27: West Bengal minister Jyotipriyo Mallick, who fainted during a court hearing, was on Friday remanded to Enforcement Directorate (ED) custody for 10 days following his arrest by the central agency in an alleged ration distribution scam case.
The state forest minister collapsed after fainting during a hearing inside the Bankshall court here and was later rushed to a city hospital for immediate medical care, an official said.
Mallick who has been suffering from a number of ailments, was produced in court after being arrested in the early hours of Friday and being medically examined at the ESI Hospital in southern Kolkata.
The Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Calcutta Tanumoy Karmakar granted the ED’s plea for custody of the minister and remanded him to the central agency’s custody for 10 days till November 5.
The ED said it needed to take Mallick into custody to question him in connection with the alleged ration scam, claiming that they have found his links with one Bakibur Rahaman, who was arrested nearly a fortnight ago in the case.
Rejecting the minister’s bail prayer, the court directed that Mallick be produced before the court again on November 6. Since the minister fell ill in the courtroom, the court allowed his treatment at a private hospital of his choice, following which he could be shifted to Command Hospital in the city if required.
The court also directed that the period of hospitalisation if any, will be excluded from the period of the ED custody granted by it.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested the West Bengal minister under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, following over 17-18 hours of questioning.
ED officials said Mallick was taken from his home in the Salt Lake area on the outskirts of Kolkata to the central agency’s office here around 3.30 am.
“I am a victim of a great conspiracy,” the TMC minister told reporters after being arrested by ED in connection with the alleged ration distribution scam.
Mallick also alleged that the “conspiracy was hatched by the BJP and its leader Suvendu Adhikari”, a former colleague in the TMC party.
Earlier on Thursday, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had threatened to file a police case if anything happened to Mallick during the questioning as he was unwell and had several medical ailments.
Banerjee had also termed the raids by the ED against opposition leaders as “a dirty political game” by the BJP.
The ED had earlier arrested Rahman Bakibur, believed to be a confidant of the minister, whose remand is ending this week.
Sources said that the central agency may seek to confront the two with each other’s version of events in the case.
Hours after arresting West Bengal minister Mallick, the ED on Friday froze his bank accounts as well as those belonging to his wife and daughter, a senior officer said.
Mallick’s mobile phones were also seized and sent for forensic examination, he added.Mallick’s arrest is the second instance of a cabinet minister of TMC being apprehended by central agencies in connection with corruption cases.
Last year, former state minister Partha Chatterjee was arrested by the ED in a case related to a school job scam. (PTI)