Kolkata: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) Thursday was conducting raid and search operations at two locations in and around Kolkata in connection with bank loan forgery cases worth around Rs 6,000 crore.
Sources aware of the development said that the two places where the ED officials have been conducting marathon raids and search operations since morning are two residences — the first being at Behala in the southern outskirts of Kolkata and the second being at Shibpur in Kolkata-adjacent Howrah district.
One of the two houses where raid and search operations were taking place belongs to a local businessman, Deepak Jain.
Each team of ED officials is being escorted by Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) personnel.
Sources said that the raids were taking place in continuation of similar raids at the residence of a Kolkata-based businessman at Ballygunge in South Kolkata in December 2024, in relation to a bank loan forgery amounting to Rs 6,000 crore.
Cash worth Rs 2 crore, jewellery worth Rs 4.5 crore and two luxurious vehicles were seized by the ED officials then from his residence.
Sanjay Surekha, the owner of Comcast Steel and Power Limited, was also arrested by the ED sleuths then.
The main charge against Surekha was that after claiming loans worth Rs 6,000 crore from a consortium of commercial banks through multiple accounts, he defaulted when the time for repayment came.
Sources said that currently, the Central agency officials are in the process of tracking the money trail to have a clear idea of how the bank loan taken by the Surekha was misused.
Charges are there that bank accounts registered in the names of the employees and business associates of the said corporate entity were also utilized in securing the loans. In addition, Surekha was also unable to furnish the details of the cash recovered from his residence as well as the sources of funds for purchasing the costly jewellery and the foreign-made luxury cars.
