Former TMC minister Mullick gets bail in Bengal ration scam

| | Kolkata
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Former TMC minister Mullick gets bail in Bengal ration scam

Thursday, 16 January 2025 | Saugar Sengupta | Kolkata

After more than 13 months of incarceration, powerful Trinamool Congress leader and former Bengal Food and Civil Supplies Minister Jyotipriya Mullick was on Wednesday granted bail in the multi-crore ration scam.

The former Food Minister, who was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in February 2024, was granted bail by a special ED Court on two bail bonds of Rs 25,000 each and a personal bond of Rs 50 lakh, lawyers said, adding that he has also been directed to cooperate in the investigation process and appear before the investigating officer and the Court whenever called upon to do so. He has also been asked to surrender his passport and refrain from influencing the witnesses.

Mullick was arrested for his alleged role as the State Food Minister in an alleged Rs 10,000 crore public distribution system scam. He was arrested under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act after more than 17-18 hours of questioning. He was serving as the Forest Minister at the time of his arrest.

Incidentally, Mullick’s arrest was linked to the infamous Sandeshkhali incident that hit national headlines, culminating in the arrest of another TMC leader and strongman, Sheikh Shahjahan, whose name also appeared in the ration scam.

In January 2024, when the ED officials went to interrogate Shahjahan at his residence in Sandeshkhali, they were attacked and injured by a mob allegedly at the instance of the TMC leader. In a subsequent development, the women of Sandeshkhali hit the streets demanding his arrest. They accused him and his men of land grabbing, mass molestation, and rape. Subsequently, he was arrested by the CBI.

Shahjahan was allegedly a close confidant of Mullick. The other accused arrested in the case were Bakibur Rehman — a key accused and a relatively less known businessman with massive fortunes, a former TMC municipal chairman Shankar Adhya of Bongaon town in North 24 Parganas bordering Bangladesh, and Biswajit Das. They were earlier granted bail.

The TMC leadership maintained a studied silence on whether Mullick would be re-inducted into the Mamata Banerjee Cabinet or would be cast aside, similar to Madan Mitra, a former Transport Minister who too was jailed for his alleged involvement in the Sharada chit fund scam.

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