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Agartala, Tripura
New Delhi/IBNS: Vinesh Chandel, co-founder and director of Indian Political Action Committee, has been granted bail by a Delhi court more than two weeks after his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case, media reports said.
In a notable development, the probe agency did not oppose Chandel’s bail plea before the Patiala House Court.
Chandel, whose firm I-PAC serves as a consultant to the Trinamool Congress, was granted bail a day after the West Bengal Assembly elections concluded on Wednesday.
Following his arrest, the firm shut its Kolkata office and asked employees to go on a 20-day leave.
Chandel was arrested in Delhi under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
Earlier this month, the ED conducted searches at multiple locations, including Chandel’s residence in Delhi and premises linked to I-PAC co-founder Rishi Raj Singh in Bengaluru.
Raids were also carried out at the Mumbai residence of Vijay Nair, and earlier this year at I-PAC’s Kolkata office and the home of its director Pratik Jain.
The Kolkata raid drew political attention after West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee visited the site along with state officials.
The ED case stems from a 2020 FIR by the Central Bureau of Investigation, which alleged large-scale coal pilferage at mines operated by Eastern Coalfields Limited in the Kunustoria and Kajora areas near Asansol.
Investigators claim a “hawala” operator linked to the smuggling network routed tens of crores of rupees to I-PAC through a Mumbai-based company that is already under scrutiny in the Delhi liquor policy case.
