Source : INDIA TODAY NEWS
The Income Tax (I-T) department on Friday raided the residence and office of Trinamool Congress (TMC) MLA from the Rashbehari Assembly constituency, Debasish Kumar, in Kolkata.
The sitting legislator has been re-fielded by his party from the same seat for the upcoming Assembly elections in West Bengal.
The reason behind the searches was not immediately known. The raids came just days ahead of the commencement of voting in the state for the forthcoming elections.
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Moreover, Kumar was already summoned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) multiple times earlier this month in connection with a land scam case.
He was called for questioning on April 1, 3 and 9, and had appeared before the central agency.
The ED aimed to determine whether Kumar had any financial transactions with businessman Amit Gangopadhyay, whose property was recently searched by the probe agency, per officials.
Notably, the I-T raids at the two properties linked to Kumar also followed the arrest of Vinesh Chandel, one of the co-founders of political consulting firm I-PAC, by the ED earlier this month in a money-laundering case related to an alleged coal scam. I-PAC is managing the TMC’s campaign for the 2026 Assembly polls.
VOTING IN RASHBEHARI
Kumar’s constituency, Rashbehari, is set to go to the polls in the second phase of the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections, on April 29. The BJP has fielded columnist Swapan Dasgupta as its candidate in the seat.
TENSIONS OUTSIDE MLA’S HOME
During the I-T raid at Kumar’s residence, TMC workers gathered outside the house and raised slogans against the BJP-led government central government. Central forces personnel were deployed to handle the situation, officials said.
– Ends
(With inputs from PTI)
SOURCE :- TIMES OF INDIA
