ED raids multiple places in Bengal in PF case

The Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday conducted raid and search operations in different pockets of West Bengal in relation to a case of defalcation of the provident fund (PF) by the owner of a jute mill.

The ED operations are being conducted following an order by the Calcutta High Court’s single-judge bench of Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay, sources said.

Since Tuesday morning parallel raids were being conducted -- in the jute mill premises at Sankrail in Kolkata, residence of the jute mill owner at Ballygunge in South Kolkata and at the corporate office of the entity at Dalhousie in Central Kolkata.

The total provident fund defalcation amount in this particular case is to the tune of Rs 20 crore.

A case was registered against the owner of the jute mill at the Calcutta High Court by a section of the retired employees who alleged that they did not receive their retirement benefits even though their contributory amounts were regularly deducted from their salaries while they were in service.

Eventually, Justice Gangopadhyay directed the ED to take up the investigation in the matter.