ED freezes Urdu daily’s account having Rs 5.25 cr after searches

TMC MP Nadimul Haque is a director of Akhbar-e-Mashriq Private Limited, the company that publishes the newspaper.

Kolkata: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday, September 9, said its three-day search operations at premises linked to Trinamool Congress (TMC) Rajya Sabha MP Nadimul Haque resulted in the seizure of various incriminating documents and digital devices, while bank accounts of Urdu daily Akhbar-e-Mashriq, with balances of about Rs 5.25 crore, have been frozen.

Haque, 56, is a director of Akhbar-e-Mashriq Private Limited, the company that publishes the newspaper.

“The Enforcement Directorate (ED) probe was initiated on the basis of an FIR registered by Bidhannagar Police Commissionerate against M/s Akhbar-e-Mashriq Pvt Ltd (publisher of the Urdu daily ‘Akhbar-e-Mashriq’) and others alleging publication and dissemination of material promoting communal disharmony through its newspaper and through social media/digital platforms along with allegations of dubious transactions in its accounts,” the agency said in a statement.

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Newspaper’s holding company maintained several bank accounts: ED

The agency claimed its investigation revealed that the newspaper’s holding company maintained “several bank accounts across Karnataka Bank, Punjab National Bank (PNB), ICICI Bank and J&K Bank, reflecting cumulative cash deposits of over Rs 60 crore”.

“Three accounts, maintained with Karnataka Bank, in which cash deposits of Rs 5.60 crore (approx) had been made, were subsequently closed by the company. Scrutiny of the accounts also revealed bitcoin purchase transactions emanating from tainted sources, without any identifiable business rationale,” the agency statement said.

“ED investigation also revealed that M/s Akhbar-e-Mashriq Pvt Ltd is inflating the number of copies of its newspaper claimed to have been printed, far in excess of, the actual number of copies printed, with the intent of misrepresenting its circulation figures and thereby securing higher advertisement revenues,” the statement added.

Several premises searched from Monday-Wednesday

The search operations, which began under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, from early morning on Monday, September 7, at nine premises located in Kolkata, Ranchi and New Delhi, linked to companies owned by Haque and their associate entities besides his residence, continued till Wednesday.

Agency officials also questioned Haque at his office after bringing him back to Kolkata from Ranchi in his car, with sources claiming that the MP was unable to provide adequate documentation for the Rs 60 crore transactions.

Documents, phones, hard drives seized

“The search operation resulted in seizure of various incriminating documents and digital devices including mobile phones, laptops and hard drives. Further, bank accounts of M/s Akhbar-e-Mashriq Pvt. Ltd., having balances of Rs. 5.25 crore (approx.), have also been frozen,” the ED statement said.

While the TMC had slammed the raids as “vendetta politics” of the BJP and an “attempt to divert public attention from the building collapse incident in Delhi”, Bengal’s ruling party had defended the action as part of a legitimate probe.