New Delhi, November 21 — In one of the largest coordinated actions this year, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday launched simultaneous raids at more than 40 locations across Jharkhand and West Bengal, targeting a widespread coal mafia network.
Officials told ANI that the searches began early Friday morning, with teams from both the Ranchi zonal office and the Kolkata zonal office acting on specific intelligence inputs related to coal theft, smuggling and illegal transportation operations. The raids are being carried out in close coordination with the state police forces of both states.
According to ED sources, the Ranchi zonal office is conducting searches at 18 locations across Jharkhand, covering multiple major cases of coal pilferage and smuggling. The premises linked to Anil Goyal, Sanjay Udhyog, LB Singh and Amar Mandal are among those under inspection. Officials said the collective scale of illegal activity has led to “massive financial loss to the government amounting to hundreds of crores.”
Premises tied to Narendra Kharka, Anil Goyal, Yudhistir Ghosh, Krishna Murari Kayal and several others are also being searched as part of the operation.
Meanwhile, the Kolkata zonal office is carrying out raids at 24 premises spread across Durgapur, Purulia, Howrah and Kolkata districts of West Bengal. These searches relate to illegal coal mining operations, unlawful transportation and the storage of coal.
Officials described the action as a “coordinated operation against entrenched coal mafias in Jharkhand and West Bengal,” noting that the investigation remains ongoing.
