NEW DELHI/KOLKATA – In a move that has sent tremors through the political corridors of West Bengal, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has arrested Vinesh Chandel, the Director and Co-founder of the high-profile political consultancy firm I-PAC.
The arrest, executed late Monday evening in Delhi under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), marks a massive escalation in the multi-crore coal pilferage investigation. The central agency alleges that approximately $2.4 million (₹20 crore) in “proceeds of crime” from the illegal coal mining racket were funneled into I-PAC via hawala channels.
This high-stakes crackdown comes at a critical juncture, with West Bengal’s assembly elections just weeks away. Earlier this year, a raid on I-PAC’s Kolkata office spiraled into a constitutional standoff when Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee personally intervened, leading to a legal battle now sitting before the Supreme Court.
With the ED now securing the custody of a key architect behind the TMC’s election machinery, the political temperature in Bengal has reached a boiling point.
