CBI conducts raids at residences of West Bengal Law Minister Malaya Ghatak

Kolkata: In connection with the multi-crore coal smuggling scam in West Bengal The Central Bureau of Investigation CBI yesterday conducted raids and search operations at multiple residences of West Bengal Law Minister Malaya Ghatak at Kolkata and Asansol.

Separate teams of CBI, escorted by the central armed forces personnel, raided five residences of Ghatak, three at Asansol and two at Kolkata. Ghatak’s Kolkata residence is in a residential complex adjacent to the Governor House in central Kolkata, which is exclusively reserved for the ministers of the state government. 

Apart from that a fifth team of the CBI was conducted raid and search operations at the residence of Ghatak’s chartered accountant, Pratik Diwan at a residential complex christened Shyam Vatika at Alipore in South Kolkata. CBI sources said that the Diwan family is traditionally involved in the garments trading business, while Pratik Diwan is a practicing chartered accountant.

Another team of CBI has conducted parallel raid and search operations at



Ghatak’s residence at Lake Gardens in South Kolkata, which houses the minister’s son and daughter-in-law.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED), which is conducting a parallel investigation into the multi-crore coal scam, had summoned Ghatak several times for questioning in the coal scam. However, Ghatak, an elected Trinamool Congress legislator from Asansol (North), considered one of the hotbeds of coal smuggling, ducked all these summonses except once.

In July this year, Ghatak was summoned by the ED to the central agency’s headquarters in New Delhi. However, he ducked that summon. He is supposed to appear at ED’s New Delhi office again on the 14th of September. On the other hand accused minister, Malay Ghatak has alleged that the central agency has searched his houses to defame him. 

Addressing a press conference in Kolkata last evening, he said the investigators examined all the documents for almost seven hours. Such incidents should not happen to defame anyone.