Court sends I-PAC director Chandel to 10 days ED custody
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New Delhi (PTI): A Delhi court sent I-PAC co-founder and director Vinesh Chandel to ten days of ED custody following his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case, officials said on Tuesday.
In a major action weeks ahead of the West Bengal Assembly Polls, the federal probe agency late Monday evening arrested Chandel after questioning. He is a law graduate from NLIU Bhopal and a 33 per cent shareholder of I-PAC.
ED officials said Chandel was arrested in a fresh case filed after taking cognisance of a Delhi Police FIR that involves the Indian PAC Consulting Pvt Ltd (I-PAC). This case is "linked" to the coal scam probe, they said.
I-PAC has been providing political consultancy to the TMC and the West Bengal government since 2021. It has many other political parties as clients.
There was no immediate reaction from I-PAC on the latest development.
In January, the ED raided the I-PAC office in Kolkata and premise of another director and co-founder, Pratik Jain, as part of its probe into the alleged coal scam case in West Bengal based on a CBI FIR.
Late Monday night, Chandel was produced before Additional Sessions Judge (Patiala House Courts) Shefali Barnala Tandon. The court sent him to 10 days of ED custody.
Chandel's premises in Delhi, apart from that of another I-PAC co-founder and director, Rishi Raj Singh, in Bengaluru and that of former Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) communications in-charge Vijay Nair in Mumbai, were raided by the ED on April 2 as part of this investigation.
The ED said it has come across "multiple" instances of alleged financial irregularities and various modes of "money laundering" by I-PAC, including receipt of accounted and unaccounted funds, receipt of unsecured loans without any business credentials, issuance of bogus bills and invoices, receipt of funds from third parties, and movement of cash through hawala channels, including international hawala.
It claimed I-PAC was involved in laundering proceeds of crime of about Rs 50 crore.
According to the pertinent law, directors of a company are liable where the offence has been committed with their consent, connivance or attributable neglect, the ED said.
Abhishek Banerjee, the national general secretary of the Trinamool Congress (TMC), in a post on X late Monday night, said Chandel's arrest barely 10 days before the Bengal election, is not just alarming, but shakes the very idea of a level playing field.
On January 8, the federal probe agency raided I-Pac office and the Kolkata residence of Pratik Jain in the coal "scam" case.
In a quick follow-up, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee landed at the raided location along with state government officials and took away certain crucial documents.
The ED said its searches against I-PAC and Jain in Kolkata were "obstructed" by Banerjee, claiming relevant documents and gadgets were forcibly taken away by her and the state administration.
The chief minister and the TMC countered these allegations, saying said the ED was attempting to take its election-strategy-related documents from I-PAC premises just before the assembly polls in the state.
West Bengal will have a two-phase poll on April 23 and April 29.
The ED sought a CBI probe into this "gross abuse of power" by the chief minister from the Supreme Court, which is currently hearing the case.
The ED's coal "scam" case stems from a November 2020 FIR of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) that has alleged a multi-crore-rupee coal-pilferage scam related to Eastern Coalfields Limited mines in West Bengal's Kunustoria and Kajora areas, in and around Asansol.
The ED said in a statement that a "hawala" operator linked to this alleged coal-smuggling ring had facilitated transactions of tens of crores of rupees to Indian PAC Consulting Private Limited, the registered company of I-PAC.
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T20 WC star Samson named ICC Men's Player of the Month for March
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Dubai (PTI): India opener Sanju Samson was on Tuesday named ICC Men's Player of the Month for March, capping a stellar run that saw him play a defining role in the team's triumphant T20 World Cup campaign.
Samson did not get to play in the early part of the tournament but was the standout performer in the big games towards the end and helped India retain the title.
His latest honour also extends a unique streak, with players from different countries winning the award over the past five months including South Africa's Simon Harmer, Australia's Mitchell Starc, New Zealand's Daryl Mitchell and Pakistan's Sahibzada Farhan.
"Winning the ICC Player of the Month award is an incredible feeling, especially as it comes during what has been the most unforgettable phase of my cricketing journey. Playing a part in India's triumph at the Men's T20 World Cup was truly a dream realised, and it took some time for the magnitude of that moment to fully sink in," Samson said.
"This is an exciting era for Indian cricket, with immense talent across the board. I feel grateful for the opportunities I've received, and for the trust and support from my team-mates and coaching staff that have allowed me to perform at my best."
Not a regular part of the playing XI in the initial stages of the tournament, Samson was eventually called up for India's must-win Super 8 fixtures. After starting off with 24 against Zimbabwe, he picked form and didn't look back.
The opener missed out on a century against the West Indies by just three runs, but his attacking 97 not out set up India's spot in the semifinal.
A blistering 89 against England at the Wankhede helped India to 253 for 7, and the target proved elusive for the English who missed out by seven runs on March 5.
An equally amazing 89 was churned out during India's successful title defence in Ahmedabad, securing a 96-run win.
In the three crucial T20Is he was a part of in March, Samson notched up 275 runs at an astonishing average of 137.50 and a stunning strike rate of 199.27.
This is the first time that Samson has secured an ICC Men's Player of the Month honour.
New Zealand captain Melie Kerr won the women's honour for the third time, after an outstanding series against Zimbabwe and South Africa.
Taking over the white-ball teams from Sophie Devine, Kerr's captaincy seemed to have brought out the best in her with both the ball and the bat. In the Zimbabwe ODI series, she managed to snap 16 wickets in just three matches, including her career-best figures of 7/34.
Additionally, she also contributed with the bat, being the third highest run-scorer in the ODIs, scoring 140 runs across three games with an average of 46.67 in the counting month.
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