ED arrests I-PAC co-founder Vinesh Chandel in West Bengal coal scam case
They said Chandel was detained under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in Delhi.
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Chandel premises in Delhi were raided by the ED on April 2, apart from the premises of another I-PAC co-founder and director, Rishi Raj Singh, in Bengaluru and former Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) communications chief, Vijay Nair, in Mumbai.
The federal investigation agency conducted raids on January 8 at the I-PAC office and the residence of Pratik Jain, its founder and one of its directors, in Kolkata in connection with the case, which sparked controversy after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee arrived at the said place along with state government officials.
The ED case stems from an alleged coal theft scam of multi-crore rupees filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in November 2020 related to Eastern Coalfields Limited mines in and around Asansol in Kunustoria and Kajora districts of West Bengal.
ED, in its statement, had said that a ‘hawala’ operator linked to the alleged coal smuggling racket facilitated transactions worth tens of billions of rupees to I-PAC’s registered company, Indian PAC Consulting Private Limited.
