ED raids on gaming app operators yield Rs 17 cr

New Delhi/ Kolkata: The ED on Saturday said it has seized more than Rs 17 crore in cash after it raided the promoters of a Kolkata-based mobile gaming app company as part of a money-laundering investigation.

A photograph released by the federal agency showed bundles of seized Rs 500 currency notes along with a few in the denomination of Rs 2,000 and Rs 200 stacked together on a bed. The searches were conducted at half-a-dozen locations of the gaming app named 'E-Nuggets' and its promoter identified as Aamir Khan and others, the Enforcement Directorate said in a statement. "So far, more than Rs 17 crore in cash has been found at the premises and the counting is still in progress," the Enforcement Directorate (ED) said.

Senior Trinamool Congress minister and Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim said the raid has no connection with politics and the TMC has nothing to do with the businessman concerned. He, however, wondered if the ED's investigations into money laundering cases are restricted to states ruled by non-BJP parties like West Bengal.

Hakim said, "If Rs 17 crore has been unearthed, the source of that money should certainly be investigated. But what about Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi who had swindled more than Rs 7,000 crore? Why did their wrongdoing not come to light before they left (India)?"

Reacting to Hakim's comments, BJP state spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya claimed that such statements come from fear as people are aware of the "unholy nexus" between money launderers and the TMC.