Kolkata: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) today (October 27) arrested Jyotipriya Mallick, the Minister for the Department of Forest Affairs and Non-Conventional and Renewable Energy Sources in West Bengal, for alleged irregularities in the public distribution system in the state.
Mallick was West Bengal’s food and supplies minister between 2011 and 2021.
He was arrested during the early hours of Friday morning after a 21-hour-long search across multiple residences, including those of the minister, his personal assistant and his chartered accountant in Kolkata and Howrah.
A three-time minister and a close confidant of chief minister Mamata Banerjee, Mallick was brought to the CGO Complex at approximately 3 am.
As of now, ED officials have not issued any statements regarding the arrest.
In his initial response following the arrest, Jyotipriya Mallik stated, “I am a victim of a serious conspiracy. This is all I can say at the moment.”
On Thursday, while the raid was still ongoing, Banerjee strongly criticised the Union government’s alleged “misuse of government agencies” to pursue a vindictive agenda and spread false information about individuals critical of the government.
The CM also warned of filing FIRs against the BJP and ED if any harm befell Mallick.
Opposition parties in the state have been alleging irregularities and corruption in the public distribution system.
These alleged irregularities, which involve the sale of wheat and rice designated for public distribution through fair-price or ration shops, happened between 2020 and 2021.
The collusion between food department officials and mill owners led to the illicit sale of rice and wheat designated for ration in the open market instead, alongside the distribution of subpar-quality rice through ration shops.
The ED is currently probing Jyotipriya Mallik’s connections with businessman Bakibur Rahman, who was arrested in connection with the case on October 14.
As per the ED, Bakibur reportedly accumulated assets amounting to nearly Rs 100 crore when Mallick held the position of Trinamool Congress district chief of the North 24 Parganas district, where Bakibur hails from.
Mallick has a history of making provocative statements.
In 2012, he issued a directive instructing his party members to impose a social boycott on the CPI(M) in Bengal and sever all connections, including even marriage ties, with families associated with the CPI(M) in the region.
In 2013, a fact-finding committee organised by the Association for Protection of Democratic Rights to investigate the assassination of anti-rape activist Barun Biswas concluded that Mallick had a hand in the killing.
Earlier this year, his daughter Priyadarshini Mallick was appointed as secretary of the West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education.
Translated from the Bengali original by Aparna Bhattacharya.