Darjeeling MP Raju Bista slams TMC as ED attaches Rs 27.19 cr tea garden assets in scam probe

In West Bengal, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached properties worth Rs 27.19 crore in connection with the alleged money laundering linked to the Group C and Group D recruitment scam. These properties belong to three tea companies operating in North Bengal ; M/s Samsing Organic Tea Pvt Ltd, M/s Yangtong Organic Tea Pvt Ltd and M/s Bamandanga Tea Estate Pvt Ltd.

The ED action follows ongoing investigations into one of the state’s most controversial recruitment scams, with total recoveries so far exceeding Rs 636 crore. The scam is alleged to have been orchestrated under the watch of the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC), with proceeds reportedly diverted into various businesses, including the tea industry.

Reacting to the development, Darjeeling MP and BJP National Spokesperson Raju Bista issued a sharp statement accusing the TMC of using tea gardens in North Bengal as conduits for laundering illicit money. “As I have stated many times in the past, TMC has been using tea gardens in North Bengal for money laundering,” Bista said.

He said that the ED’s recent action was just the beginning and warned that many more such entities across the state including resorts, hotels, real estate projects and sand and stone mining businesses would soon come under scrutiny. “In the coming days, TMC and their alliance's money laundering operations run through resorts, hotels, housing projects, sand and stone mining etc. will all be exposed,” Bista added.

Highlighting that such activities are not limited to the plains, Bista said that similar illicit operations are also active in the hills of North Bengal. “Not only in the plains, many such money laundering entities are operational in the hills too, they too will be exposed and those responsible for looting public money will be brought to book,” he said.