ED likely to question some Dubai-based Indians in Bengal ration scam case

Kolkata, Nov 22 (SocialNews.XYZ) Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials were likely to question some Dubai-based Indians to get a clearer picture of the proceeds in the multi-crore ration distribution case in West Bengal, which were reportedly invested in real estate there.

Sources said that the ED officials were seeking the help of the External Affairs Ministry so that the latter could take the matter up with the UAE government to make the process of integration of the Dubai-based Indians smooth.

The ED officials have also opposed the plea of a city-based businessman Bakibur Rahaman, the first to be arrested by the central agency sleuths in the case.

Rahaman had recently secured bail to attend family functions in Dubai.

The ED opposed the plea because the main condition of bail was that Rahaman would not be able to go out of the country during the bail period. Sources said that the family function was just an excuse and the real intention was to make arrangements for the property that he owns there.

Last year, after Rahaman's arrest, the ED officials tracked his assets and property worth over Rs 100 crore, which included two high-end residential flats in Dubai registered in his name.

The other assets and properties included around 51 acres of land in several plots scattered over different pockets in the state, in Murshidabad and North 24 Parganas district. The assets also include nine residential flats, measuring 7,000 square feet in total, registered in the name of Rahaman.

He was known as an extremely close confidant of the former State Food and Supplies minister Jyotipriya Mallick, who was also arrested last year by the ED officials in connection with the ration distribution case.

Mallick is currently under treatment at a private hospital in Kolkata where he was transferred recently from the Presidency Central Correctional Home in Kolkata.

Source: IANS