Kolkata, 01 April (H.S.): The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday carried out multiple raids across Kolkata ahead of the West Bengal Assembly elections, including at premises linked to South Kolkata businessman Biswajit Poddar, also known as ‘Sona Pappu’.
Search operations were conducted at his residence in the Kasba area as well as at several other locations, including the office of a company in Ballygunge.
According to ED sources, multiple FIRs have already been registered against Poddar on charges including extortion, criminal intimidation, and other alleged criminal activities. Investigations were underway in four to five such cases in recent days, which led to Wednesday’s coordinated action.
Officials reportedly reached his Fern Road residence at around 7 a.m., accompanied by personnel of central security forces.
Sources said the ED has received inputs alleging Poddar’s influence over several local syndicates operating in the Kasba and Ballygunge areas. Investigators are also examining allegations that he was involved in collecting large sums of money from construction companies and routing the funds to influential individuals.
Apart from Poddar’s residence, ED teams are also conducting searches at other locations in South Kolkata. In connection with a financial irregularities case, officials are also searching the office of a company identified as Sun Enterprise in Ballygunge. However, it is yet to be confirmed whether the company has any direct links with Poddar.
At the local level, there has been speculation that Poddar is close to Debasish Kumar, a Trinamool Congress leader and candidate from the Rashbehari Assembly constituency. Coincidentally, the ED had summoned Kumar for questioning earlier this week, just two days before the raids.
Poddar’s name had also surfaced earlier in connection with a clash between two groups in the Rabindra Sarobar area. However, police have not made any arrests in that case so far. Following the incident near Golpark, local residents had also accused his associates of creating disturbances in the locality.
Denying the allegations, Poddar has claimed that he has no connection with the reported clash or other accusations against him.
Hindusthan Samachar / Satya Prakash Singh
