ED raids Bengal Congress leader's home over business dealings, coal firm links

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday searched the residence of Congress leader Dilip Turi in West Bengal’s Paschim Bardhaman district in connection with his business dealings. The searches focussed on his reported links to vehicle and ambulance services at Eastern Coalfields Limited (ECL) collieries. The agency has not yet disclosed the specific case or allegations.

The search was conducted at Turi’s residence in Andal, with an ED team arriving around 6 am along with central security officers, including CRPF personnel.

ED officials searched the residence and examined documents and other materials during the operation. Central security personnel remained deployed around the premises. Details of any documents seized or whether Turi or anyone else was questioned were not immediately available.

The ED searches triggered a stir in the coal belt, with multiple vehicles and security personnel outside the house drawing the attention of local residents.DILIP TURI'S BUSINESS DEALINGS

Turi, a businessman, is associated with the local Congress unit and an NGO. He is involved in providing ambulances and other four-wheelers at various ECL collieries and open-cast mines.

Sources said some ambulances were brought from Jharkhand and deployed in different ECL areas through tender-based service arrangements. The nature of these contracts and their relevance to the ED search have not been established.

The ED had not issued a statement on today's searches or disclosed the investigation under which it was conducted at the time of filing this report.

The operation comes in the coal belt of Paschim Bardhaman, where ECL’s mining activities and associated service contracts form a significant part of the local industrial landscape.- Ends