ED arrests TMC Minister Jyoti Priya Mallick in alleged ration distribution scam

Kolkata: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested West Bengal forest minister and Trinamool senior leader Jyoti Priya Mallick in the early hours of Friday in connection with alleged irregularities in the public distribution system, after nearly 20 hours-long marathon raids and interrogation.

Mallick has been remanded to 10-day custody of the ED till November 6. However, immediately after the hearing in the court, the minister fell unconscious and vomited inside the court room. The court then directed the formation of a medical board and his treatment in Command Hospital and an AC ambulance was called to shift Mallick to the hospital.

The minister suffers from multiple ailments, including diabetes, people in the know said. He has expressed his concern to the court on his health issue during the hearing. Meanwhile, the court has directed that Mallick will eat home-cooked food, which will be checked by his daughter before being served to him.


Shyamal Ghosh, advocate of Mallick, said, "My client fell unconscious inside the courtroom. He could not take his medicines from yesterday morning."

ED officials arrested Mallick from his home in the Salt Lake area in the eastern fringes of Kolkata and took him to the central agency's office at around 3.30 a.m.

"I am a victim of a great conspiracy," the Trinamool minister said after being arrested by ED in connection with the alleged ration distribution scam. Mallick also alleged that the conspiracy was hatched by the BJP and its leader of opposition in state assembly Suvendu Adhikari. The ED had earlier arrested one Bakibur Rahman in connection with this case.

The agency had launched searches at Mallick's houses on Thursday morning. It also searched his ancestral house on Amherst Street in central Kolkata.