Without Taking anyone’s name, West Bengal minister Jyoti Priya Mallick, arrested in connection with the ED’s probe into the alleged irregularities in ration distribution in the state, on Monday claimed that “whatever they have done is unethical”. The minister made the remarks while he was being taken to Bankshall court in Kolkata. Mallick, who was the state’s food and supplies minister from 2011 to 2021, was arrested by the ED on October 27 over alleged irregularities in the public distribution system. Speaking to reporters outside the ED’s office at Salt Lake’s CGO Complex, Mallick claimed that he was innocent. “Whatever they have done is unethical, unfair, they haven't done right. I am innocent,” he shouted without specifying who he was referring to. Later during the day, the Bankshall court extended ED custody of Mallick by another seven days. During the hearing, the ED prayed for the minister's custody to be extended. The agency argued that as Mallick hadn't been keeping well, it didn't get enough time to question him. During the hearing, Mallick's lawyer claimed that the minister was a “victim of political conspiracy”. Meanwhile, Mallick's former aide Abhijit Das also appeared before the ED on Monday in Kolkata. Earlier in October, Das' home was among the premises that were searched by the ED which led to Mallick's arrest. The ED has claimed that the ration meant for beneficiaries was allegedly siphoned off by “flour millers in connivance with distributors and other people in the supply chain”. The agency stated that the proceeds of the crime were reportedly laundered through three shell entities. When asked about his wife and mother allegedly being made directors of one of the shell companies, Das said, “My mother and wife were made directors of the company. When the minister gives an order, it must be followed. His request is also a kind of instruction. I have told the ED everything. I do not know what transactions were made in that company. In 2014, my mother and wife left the company.” Das also alleged that his mother and wife had wanted to resign after he left working for Mallick in 201, however, “they were not allowed to resign at that time”. “They left the organisation somehow forcefully after that,” he told reporters outside the CGO complex.
