Kolkata, Sep 16 (IANS): The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has arrested Kolkata-based construction businessman Amit Gangopadhyay, a close associate of former TMC MLA Debashis Kumar, in a money laundering probe linked to alleged land-grabbing and illegal construction activities.
According to the central agency, Gangopadhyay’s company is accused of constructing housing projects on encroached land at multiple locations in south Kolkata. He was summoned to the ED office for questioning on Tuesday and was later arrested. Sources said the arrest was made on allegations of non-cooperation with the investigation.
Gangopadhyay is considered a close associate of former Trinamool Congress MLA Debashis Kumar. In 2023, police registered around 20 FIRs against him at different police stations, including in South 24 Parganas district, on charges related to land grabbing, cheating and forgery. The ED subsequently initiated a money laundering investigation based on those police cases.
Ahead of the Assembly elections, the ED searched multiple locations linked to the case and claimed it gathered crucial information from electronic devices and documents seized during the raids. The agency also questioned Debashis Kumar multiple times and searched his residence and office. He was called to ED’s CGO complex in the Salt Lake area of Kolkata on April 1, 3, and 9.
The probe is linked to a wider alleged land-grabbing network that has already led to the arrests of construction businessman Joy Kamdar, alleged land mafia figure Biswajit Poddar alias Sona Pappu, and former Kolkata Police Deputy Commissioner Santanu Sinha Biswas. Investigators claim the accused generated substantial illegal proceeds through land-grabbing activities.
Kamdar was arrested in April, while Sinha Biswas and Poddar were taken into custody in May. Investigators claim the trio amassed substantial illegal proceeds through land-grabbing operations.
