The Enforcement Directorate (ED) questioned Debasish Kumar, a Trinamool Congress MLA and candidate for the upcoming assembly election from south Kolkata’s high-profile Rashbehari assembly seat, on Monday in connection with alleged land deals in the city, according to a federal agency official who asked to remain anonymous.
Kumar, a Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) Mayor-in-Council member, was elected to the Rashbehari seat for the first time in 2021. In the upcoming Bengal two-phase elections, he will face Swapan Dasgupta of the Bharatiya Janata Party, a renowned journalist and former Rajya Sabha member.
“Kumar came under fire after records obtained from the home of Amit Ganguly, a real estate businessman, revealed that certain contested areas were sold at a premium price for real estate purposes. Papers utilized in these land agreements could only be obtained from KMC insiders,” the ED officer stated.
Kumar was summoned in the morning and instructed to return in the afternoon with appropriate documents. He refused to comment on the investigation or why he was summoned. TMC state vice-president Jay Prakash Majumdar claimed that the ED probe was politically driven. He stated that the BJP is aware that it cannot win the Bengal elections.
“This is not the first time it has used federal agencies to target TMC leaders ahead of elections,” Majumdar said. Debjit Sarkar, Bengal BJP’s chief spokesperson, denied the claims as “baseless.” “Why is ED probing Kumar, but not you or me? TMC should refrain from raising the same bogus allegations whenever there is an ED or CBI operation. “Why don’t they go to court and claim their candidate is being harassed unnecessarily?” Sarkar asked.
