West Bengal Forest Minister Jyotipriya Mallick was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the early hours of Friday from his residence after a marathon 23-hour grilling in connection with an alleged multi-crore rupee ration distribution scam in the state. The ED has instructed bank authorities to freeze the accounts of the minister, his wife, and daughter and is also investigating whether there are additional bank accounts held by them
Jyotipriya Mallick was the minister for food and supplies in the West Bengal government before he assumed his current post as the forest affairs minister The arrest came a day after the ED conducted searches at his house in Salt Lake on the outskirts of Kolkata Hours before his arrest, West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee had threatened to file a police case against the BJP and ED if anything happened to Mallick during the searches at his residence. She had said that Mallick was unwell. Further, the Bengal CM had alleged that the raids were conducted despite the lack of evidence of wrong doing. “If they conduct raids at the residences of all the leaders, then what is left of the government?” Banerjee was quoted as saying by news agencies.
The ration scam is a grave issue that has been plaguing West Bengal for some time now. The arrest of Jyotipriya Mallick is a significant development in this case. We will keep you updated on any further developments.