Bengal lottery scam: Huge amount of cash traced, ED brings currency counting machine

Kolkata, Nov 15 (IANS) Enforcement Directorate (ED) teams, who had been conducting marathon raid and search operations at multiple locations in and around Kolkata since Thursday morning in connection with a multi-crore alleged financial fraud and money laundering through lottery tickets, have been able to track huge unaccounted cash from the residence of a businessman at Lake Market in south Kolkata.

Sources said that the ED officials, on Friday morning, brought a currency counting machine from a nearby bank branch in order to count the cash recovered.

As per the last information available, currency notes amounting to Rs 3 crore have been counted and the process of counting is still on.

Sources aware of the development said that there is a possibility that cash might be hidden at another location where simultaneous raid and search operations have been on since Thursday.

In anticipation of cash recovery from there as well, the ED officials have also given a requisition for a currency-counting machine there as well.

However, ED officials are tight-lipped on the exact location of the second place from where they are suspecting cash recovery.

Since Thursday morning, the central agency officials had been conducting marathon raids and search operations at three places in and around Kolkata. On location was at the lottery ticket printing factory at Michael Nagar in the Madhyamgram area in North 24 Parganas district. The two other locations were at office-cum-residences of two lottery agents at Lake Market and Lake Gardens, both in south Kolkata.

Sources said that there are multiple charges against the lottery entity concerned, which include evasion of taxes and most importantly, diverting a portion of the income proceeds abroad illegally through hawla. The investigating agency also suspects Bangladeshi links with the racket. Investigating officials have not ruled out links of politically influential persons from the state in this matter.

Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly Suvendu Adhikari has been for quite some time alleging a major lottery scam in West Bengal in which several poor people in rural India have lost their hard-earned money. He has also alleged that important leaders of the ruling Trinamool Congress are the principal beneficiaries in the lottery scam.

–IANS

src/vd