ED Raids Dhanbad Coal Trader Manoj Agrawal in Expanding Money-Laundering Probe
Massive raid on Dhanbad trader in illegal coal racket.
In a pre-dawn operation on Friday, heavily armed teams of the Enforcement Directorate descended simultaneously on the residential and official premises of prominent Dhanbad-based coal trader Manoj Agrawal at Bhelatand and Dhansar, intensifying the probe into one of eastern India’s largest money-laundering networks linked to illegal coal mining and smuggling.
The searches, which began around 7 am and continued for several hours, are part of a continuing investigation triggered by evidence unearthed during last month’s mega raids across 44 locations in Jharkhand and West Bengal. Sources confirmed that digital records, bank statements and property documents seized earlier directly pointed to Agrawal’s alleged role in routing proceeds of crime generated through black-market coal trade.
The ongoing crackdown has already yielded staggering recoveries: more than ₹14 crore in unaccounted cash and jewellery, over 120 land deeds, incriminating diaries detailing illegal cash collections, forged transport permits and digital devices containing transaction trails of hundreds of crores. The ED maintains that a sophisticated syndicate has been stealing coal from Bharat Coking Coal Limited (BCCL) leases in Jharkhand, transporting it across state borders using bogus documentation, and selling it at massive premiums in West Bengal’s unregulated coke oven plants.
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Previous raids targeted entities linked to contractors handling BCCL outsourcing work, transporters running illegal toll plazas, and middlemen operating coke plants in Durgapur and Asansol. The agency has established that the racket generated “huge proceeds of crime” through systematic theft of coal from abandoned and illegal levy collection, with funds subsequently laundered into real estate, luxury assets and benami companies across multiple states.
With every fresh raid uncovering deeper layers of political and bureaucratic patronage, the Enforcement Directorate is now tightening the noose around key operators who allegedly controlled the multi-state smuggling corridor for years. As forensic analysis of seized materials continues, investigators expect more arrests and attachment of properties worth hundreds of crores in the coming weeks, sending shockwaves through Jharkhand’s powerful coal mafia.
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