Officials of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday morning began questioning arrested TMC minister Jyoti Priya Mallick in connection with the alleged irregularities in the public distribution system, a day after he was discharged from a private hospital in Kolkata. Mallick, 66, who was the Food and Supplies Minister from 2011 to 2021, was arrested by the ED in the wee hours of Friday following a marathon search at several premises linked to him. The court has granted the ED 10-day custody of Mallick, who at present holds the Forest Department portfolio. Soon after he was sent to ED custody last Friday, Mallick had fainted in the court and was admitted to a hospital. “The minister has been questioned on the basis of the documents that we have seized so far and the statements recorded by his close aide and staff members. We are probing Mallick’s financial status and the directorial positions held by his wife and daughter in three companies during his tenure as the state Food and Supplies Minister,” said an ED official on the condition of anonymity. The ED also summoned Abhijit Das, the former chartered accountant (CA) of Mallick and his current office staffer Amit Dey at the agency’s CGO Complex office in Kolkata on Tuesday. Sources said that Mallick would be questioned in front of Amit Dey and Abhijit Das. “Mallick will be confronted with the information provided by Amit Dey and Abhijit Das,” said an ED official. Sources in the ED had earlier told The Indian Express that money received as kickbacks from the ration scam was allegedly laundered by the minister through three shell companies – Shree Hanuman Realcon Pvt Ltd, Gracious Innovative Pvt Ltd, and Gracious Creation Pvt Ltd. Sources had also claimed that they recovered a “maroon diary” from the Howrah residence of Abhijit Das that has the details of date-wise receipts and payments of cash in large amounts. The ED had told a court that the diary mentions the names of “MIC (minister in-charge) Jyoti Priya Mallick, popularly known as Balu da, three shell companies through which the money was laundered, and NPG Rice Mills”. “The pages of the diary clearly indicate that the money was received by Mallick and it was deposited in the accounts of companies," the agency had said. It is to be noted that the ED had earlier this month arrested Bakibur Rahaman, the owner of NPG Rice Mills. On Monday 10 pm, Mallick was discharged from Apollo Multispeciality Hospital and was taken to the central agency's CGO Complex office in Salt Lake. The decision to discharge Mallick was taken by a medical board on Monday evening. A medical bulletin issued by the hospital read, “Jyoti Priya Mallick was under the care of a multidisciplinary team of doctors. Today, he was also examined by a spine surgeon and a neurosurgeon to assess the condition of his cervical spine. He has been advised physiotherapy and neck exercises. A comprehensive review of the status of the patient was undertaken by a team of doctors, including a psychiatrist, who opined that he could be discharged. This was conveyed to the patient by his primary physician. The patient has been prescribed medicines and recommended review as an out-patient.” Centre's praise of Bengal PDS has proved BJP leaders wrong: TMC Hitting out at the state unit of the BJP, the ruling TMC on Tuesday said that the West Bengal government's public distribution system (PDS) has earned praises from the Centre for digitizing ration cards in the state. “Bengal BJP leaders have been left red-faced! Not only did Union Minister Piyush Goyal verbally praise the substantial demand in West Bengal and the efficiency of its processes during a meeting with our Minister of Food and Supplies Rathin Ghosh, but the Union Food Department has also taken an additional step by issuing an open letter of commendation for our ration distribution system,” the TMC said. “The Government of West Bengal has earned high praise for its efforts in digitizing its ration system to ensure smooth delivery; providing detailed information to the Central government on ration uptake and delivery every month, and thereby proving the naysayers wrong once again," the party added. Meanwhile, senior TMC leader Sovan Deb Chattopadhyay said while the arrest of Jyoti Priya Mallick was “unfortunate”, the party would not extend support to him if he is found guilty. CPI(M) leader Tanmay Bhattacharjee, on the other hand, said that there was an “under the table understanding” between BJP and TMC.
