The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed a prosecution complaint against five accused persons in connection with illegal mining, transportation, and sale of coal in the Durgapur-Asansol belt of West Bengal.

The accused were also involved in the use of forged documents and extortion. Among them are Chinmoy Mondal and Kiran Khan, who were arrested by the agency in February.

The ED initiated an investigation under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act based on 54 cases registered at various police stations in the region. These cases stemmed from complaints by the Eastern Coalfields Limited (ECL), Central Industrial Security Force, and local police authorities. 

According to the agency, accused Chinmoy Mondal, Kiran Khan, and their associates were part of an organised coal syndicate operating in the Durgapur-Asansol region and adjoining areas. This syndicate was involved not only in illegal coal-related activities, which included dealing in coal procured through illegal means and illegally transported from Jharkhand into West Bengal, but also in the systematic extortion of levies from valid Delivery Order holders, transporters, and coal purchasers.

“Such illegal levy, commonly referred to as ‘GT’, ‘Gunda Tax’, or ‘Rangdari Tax’, was collected to permit coal lifting and transportation and was disguised as lifting charges, handling charges, donations, etc...the extortion rates varied from about ₹275 per tonne to ₹1,500 per tonne, which amounted to an exorbitant 20-25% of the actual value of the auctioned coal,” said the agency.

“Due to such forceful levies, a significant amount of allocated coal remained unlifted, causing substantial financial loss to ECL as well. As of date, the Proceeds of Crime generated by this syndicate in the form of such extortion alone over the last five years have been estimated at more than ₹650 crore,” said the ED. 

The ED had earlier conducted searches at multiple locations and seized “incriminating documents, digital devices, WhatsApp chats, records of coal lifting, levy collection sheets, bank account details and other material”.

The searches also led to seizure of cash, bank balances, and valuables amounting to about ₹17.57 crore, in addition to the huge physical stock of coal and coke from the premises of the accused persons and their accomplices, said the agency.

The ED said that the accused persons used a number of proprietorship concerns and companies as fronts for routing, layering and projecting of Proceeds of Crime as untainted. Analysis of bank accounts revealed “substantial cash deposits and large fund movements” among closely connected persons and entities.

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“The investigation also uncovered evidence regarding payment of bribes to various officials of the government of West Bengal and local political functionaries for facilitating movement of coal and continuation of the activities of the syndicate,” alleged the ED.