Kolkata
In the ongoing investigation into the multi-crore ration distribution case in West Bengal, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has seized 20 mobile phones, which are expected to provide critical clues that may establish influential links with the case, according to sources. The seized mobile phones include those of prominent individuals, including the state forest minister and former state food & supplies minister, Jyotipriya Mallick, as well as his former and current personal assistants, personal chartered accountants, close family members, and associates. Jyotipriya Mallick was arrested by ED investigators in connection with the ration distribution case. Sources revealed that the first indications of the minister’s involvement in the case were uncovered from a WhatsApp message retrieved from the mobile phone of Bakibur Rahman, a Kolkata-based businessman who was the first to be apprehended by ED investigators in relation to the ration distribution case. The links of another individual whose mobile phones have been seized by the central investigators were also obtained from various WhatsApp chat messages retrieved from Rahman’s mobile phone.
Sources further explained that the process of full-data recovery from these 20 confiscated mobile phones has already commenced under the supervision of the ED. Additionally, experts will be engaged to assist with the data recovery process. The ED anticipates that this data recovery will yield more crucial clues, helping to establish direct influential links with the ration distribution case. ED counsel Phiroze Edulji has informed a special court in Kolkata about the seizure of these mobile phones and the potential presence of hidden clues in the data they contain. The seizure of these mobile phones is a significant development in the ongoing investigation into the ration distribution case in West Bengal.
