The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has arrested Vinesh Chandel, director of political consultancy firm I-PAC, in connection with a money laundering investigation linked to alleged illegal mining and transportation of coal in West Bengal, officials said on Monday.
According to the agency, Chandel was taken into custody in Delhi under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, and he is scheduled to be produced before a court on Tuesday. The arrest came more than a week after the ED carried out fresh raids on I-PAC on April 2, including searches at Chandel’s residence and the premises of another I-PAC director, Rishi Raj Singh, as well as Vijay Nair, the former communications in-charge of the Aam Aadmi Party.
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ED alleges hawala
ED has alleged that about ₹20 crore in proceeds of crime generated in the West Bengal coal mining racket were routed through hawala channels to I-PAC. The ED’s probe is based on a 2020 Central Bureau of Investigation FIR over allegations that coal was illegally mined at Eastern Coalfields Ltd’s mines in Kunustoria and Kajora in West Bengal. The agency had earlier questioned Trinamool Congress national general secretary and MP Abhishek Banerjee, alleging he was a beneficiary of funds from the illegal mining case.
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An old dispute
In January, raids on I-PAC’s office and the director, Pratik Jain, triggered a dispute between the agency and the state government. The ED accused Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of obstructing searches and removing evidence, while Banerjee alleged the agency was trying to seize election-strategy-related documents from I-PAC premises ahead of the assembly elections. I-PAC has said its role is limited to “transparent, professional political consulting” and that it cooperated fully with the process.
