Kolkata: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials investigating financial irregularities at the state-run R.G. Kar Medical College & Hospital in Kolkata have uncovered some preliminary evidence that a portion of the ill-gotten proceeds were illegally invested in the real estate business in neighbouring Bangladesh via the hawala route.
According to sources, the investigators discovered the names of two Bangladesh-based businesspeople with an interest in real estate who had recently visited Kolkata and interacted with Sandip Ghosh, the former and controversial principal of R.G. Kar. This discovery, among the various documents seized during the investigation, is a significant step forward in the case.
Simultaneously, sources said last week, ED agents seized gold worth Rs 7 crore from the home of a city-based businessman, Swapan Saha, another Ghosh confidant, in Salt Lake on the northern outskirts of Kolkata.
As the businessman could not provide adequate information about the origins of this gold or the finances used to purchase it, ED inspectors seized the entire cargo of yellow metal on suspicion that it had been smuggled into the city from Dubai via Bangladesh.
At the same time, the source added that since ED made a suo motu entry in the matter by filing an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR), they have tracked the existence of several shell business entities playing key roles for Ghosh-confidant businessmen in bagging contracts for medical equipment or maintenance work orders for R.G Kar.
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The ED officials, who are also investigating the extent to which Ghosh’s assets are disproportionate to his income, have tracked multiple properties, including a twin flat in Kolkata and a high-end resort-type bungalow in the suburbs, whose market value is a few crores of rupees.
Sources said the ED officials are currently examining the details of Ghosh and his family members’ bank accounts and property-related documents to obtain further clues on this count.
Besides ED, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officials are also conducting a parallel probe into the case of financial irregularities at R.G. Kar.
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–IANS
