ED files chargesheet against former TMC leader Shahjahan in money laundering case

NEW DELHI: Two days after the CBI filed a charge sheet, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday filed its first charge sheet against suspended TMC leader Sheikh Shahjahan, his brother and two other accomplices under the Prevention of

Money Laundering

Act (PMLA), 2002.
The complaint was submitted to the special Judge, CBI-I, Bichar Bhavan, Kolkata, as part of a money laundering case involving

Shahajahan Sheikh

and his associates.
The ED said it's investigation was initiated based on 13 FIRs filed by the West Bengal Police under various sections of the IPC Act, 1860, and the Arms Act, 1959.
These FIRs alleged that Sheikh Shahjahan and others had created an atmosphere of terror through "organized crime, including threats of injury, murder, attempted murder, and extortion".

ED in a statement said that Sheikh had "created a criminal empire revolving around land grabbing, illegal fish farming/trading, grabbing brick fields, cartelisation of contracts, collection of illegal taxes/levies, commission on land deals etc."
The suspended TMC leader, his brother and his two alleged complices were arrested by the ED in this case and they are currently lodged in jail under judicial custody. The agency may file supplementary chargesheets in this case, official sources said.

During the investigation, the ED recorded statements from various individuals, including local farmers, tribals, fish merchants, agents, exporters, landowners, and contractors, under Section 50 of the PMLA 2002.
Additionally, searches conducted under Section 17 of the PMLA led to the seizure of three cars belonging to Shahjahan and his brother Alomgir.
Previously, the ED had attached movable and immovable properties worth Rs 27.08 crore belonging to Shajahan and others through two Provisional Attachment Orders dated 05/03/2024 and 16/05/2024.
The investigation revealed that the proceeds of crime amounted to Rs 261.41 crore.
Four individuals— Shajahan, his brother Alomgir, and their two accomplices, Shib Prasad Hazra and Didar Boksh Molla—were arrested by the ED and are currently in judicial custody. Following these arrests, the ED filed the present prosecution complaint.
( With input from agencies)