The Enforcement Directorate has provisionally attached assets valued at Rs 136.44 crore linked to Anup Majhi, alias Lala, in connection with an illegal coal extraction and syndicate operation in West Bengal and Jharkhand. The action, initiated under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, targets properties suspected of being acquired through proceeds generated from coal theft at Eastern Coalfields Limited leasehold mines. With this latest attachment, the total value of assets seized or provisionally restrained by the federal agency in cases concerning Majhi and his associates stands at Rs 815.08 crore.
The freshly attached assets comprise land and commercial infrastructure connected to two major hospitality ventures, alongside prime real estate in urban centres. Investigators have identified assets tied to the Garh Panchkot Eco Tourism project situated in the Purulia district of West Bengal, as well as the Biharinath Eco Tourism venture in Bankura district. Additionally, two separate immovable properties located in Kolkata have been placed under provisional attachment as investigators work to verify the trail of funds used to finance their acquisition.
Eco-Tourism Ventures and Urban Assets Under Scrutiny
Federal investigators are focusing closely on the financial arrangements that enabled the acquisition of these regional leisure resorts and urban holdings. Official inquiries indicate that funds generated from unlawful coal extraction were diverted into legitimate business enterprises to conceal their origins. Scrutiny is currently directed at property registration records, transaction documents, and corporate structures that handled the purchase payments.
The provisional attachment serves as a legal measure to prevent the alienation, transfer, or sale of the properties while proceedings remain pending before the adjudicating authority. Officials noted that provisional attachment does not represent final confiscation or establish criminal guilt, which remains subject to judicial determination. Investigators are examining whether dummy entities or corporate fronts were deployed to execute the transactions and mask the ultimate beneficial owners of the real estate portfolios.
Examination of Banking Trails and Equity Holdings
The scope of the financial crackdown extends past fixed real estate into liquid financial holdings and market instruments. The agency has placed restrictions on several corporate and individual bank accounts, together with portfolios containing shares and mutual fund units associated with Majhi and his operational network. Financial forensic teams are tracing ledger entries and fund movements across multiple accounts to determine whether market investments were funded through illicit coal proceeds.
Investigators are also auditing transaction volumes to map the corporate channels used to transfer capital between operational hubs in West Bengal and neighbouring states. The ongoing assessment seeks to distinguish between standard commercial revenue and capital inflows generated through illegal extraction. The findings from this financial tracing exercise will form part of the supplementary prosecution complaints submitted before the designated special court.
Collusion Allegations and Mine Operation Manipulation
The broader money laundering inquiry stems from findings that leasehold extraction sites belonging to Eastern Coalfields Limited were officially logged as closed or non-operational to conceal unlawful activity. Unauthorised syndicates allegedly accessed these designated pits to extract high-grade coal, which was subsequently moved across state boundaries through falsified transit documents and sold on the open commercial market.
Investigators are examining potential collusion between private syndicate operators, administrative personnel, and officials within Eastern Coalfields Limited who allegedly facilitated the misrepresentation of mine operational statuses. The probe encompasses the logistics network used for bulk transportation, the middlemen handling distribution across states, and the financial intermediaries managing cash flows. The Enforcement Directorate indicated that further attachment actions and legal steps will depend on the verification of banking documentation, corporate records, and ongoing judicial scrutiny.
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