Kolkata: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday conducted search operations at six locations in Kolkata and in the city’s Salt Lake township in connection with the alleged public distribution system scam, officials of the federal agency said.

The premises included offices and business establishments of arrested Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Shankar Adhya who runs a chain of foreign currency exchange outlets and is allegedly close to former food minister Jyotipriya Mallick who was arrested on October 27 last year.

Adhya, a former chairman of Bongaon municipality in North 24 Parganas district, was arrested by ED on January 6.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, an ED official said Adhya is suspected to have siphoned money from the food scam to foreign countries through his currency exchange business.

The alleged scam, in which subsidised food grains meant for the PDS system were siphoned to the open market for sale, took place when Mallick was West Bengal’s food minister between 2011 – when TMC came to power for the first time – and 2021.

ED officials suspect that the scam involves the sum of around ₹20,000 crore.

On December 12, ED filed its first chargesheet at Kolkata’s Bankshall court under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) naming Mallick, rice mill owner and hotelier Bakibur Rahaman and 10 shell companies.

Also Read: ED raids premises of TMC leaders including West Bengal minister

Rahaman, who was arrested on October 14, was a key player in the siphoning operation in which his warehouses were used, the ED told the court.

The federal agency also told the court that Mallick made his wife, Manidipa, and daughter, Priyadarshini, and some personal staff directors of three shell companies, which were shut down in 2022 and 2023 to wipe out evidence.

On Monday, the ED teams raided Adhya’s offices and businesses at Marquis Street, Collins Street and Chowringhee Lane in the heart of Kolkata. The office of a chartered accountant at Salt Lake was also searched for several hours.

ED officials did not comment on the outcome of the operation until 7 pm on Monday. Neither did any TMC leader comment on the development.