ED raids multiple locations in Howrah & 2 other districts, targeting crypto and chit fund frauds

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) launched massive, coordinated raids across West Bengal starting at 7 AM on Thursday, targeting multiple individuals linked to financial scams ranging from cryptocurrency fraud to illegal chit fund operations. Backed by a heavy deployment of central security forces who cordoned off the targeted properties, the central probe agency simultaneously stormed residences in Durgapur, Howrah, and Nadia districts. The multi-city operation comes after investigators mapped out extensive banking networks showing traces of suspicious high-value money transactions linked to public financial embezzlement.

In Durgapur's Andal area, an ED team searched the house of retired Eastern Coalfields Limited (ECL) employee Dilip Mallick and his son, Diganta Mallick. Investigators reveal that Diganta, who had previously been arrested and released on bail, allegedly operated a fraudulent crypto-investment office out of Kolkata's Fairlie Place, using aggressive social media advertisements to collect crores of rupees from unsuspecting investors. Agency sources indicate that the illicitly accumulated funds were subsequently laundered out of the country through a transactional network connected to a based-out businessman in Dubai.

Concurrently, another ED unit raided the residence of Sourav Chatterjee on Kuchil Sarkar Lane under the Bantra Police Station limits in Howrah over his alleged deep-rooted connections with multiple fraudulent chit fund companies and stock market activities. In Nadia's Ranaghat pocket, federal officials searched the empty family home of businessman Subhra Kanti Nag, alias Babai Nag, in Kalinarayanpur. Nag faces serious charges of running a fraudulent entity named 'Stock Gurukul,' which allegedly duped local citizens of substantial sums of money under the false pretext of providing professional stock market training and secure financial investments.