Ed Sleuths Seek Security Cover After Threat Calls

Senior Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials in Calcutta, investigating several cases of alleged Foreign Exchange Regulation Act (Fera) by major corporates, have sought police protection after receiving threats to their life and property.

The officials who received the threats over the phone are the Calcutta zonal office deputy director K K Kabirpanthi and assistant director D S Benupany.

Interestingly, owner of Hungerford Investment Trust Ltd N S Hoon, who is a key figure in the Ashok Jain case, has also received threats to his life.

The threatening calls have proved to be a major cause for mental duress for the investigating officials.

 

The Calcutta Police confirmed having received a message yesterday from the ED and said that security cover would be provided to the officials at the earliest.

The sources said that such calls had been received as early as November last year, immediately after the directorate conducted nationwide raids on some top corporate houses in the country.

The ED had then sought police protection, which, for some reason, had not been extended.

In a letter written on June 25 to the police commissioner, Kabirpanthi said, The investigating officers are under constant threat from such persons whose vested interests have been suffering due to the investigation launched by the directorate.

At the moment, the directorate is investigating Fera cases involving top business houses, including ITC Ltd, the Manu Chhabria-owned Shaw Wallace & Co and Ashok Jain, chairman of Bennett Coleman & Co. Last month, an ED team, which was scheduled to go to Dubai to conduct some investigations led by special director M C Joshi, had to cancel its trip at the last minute following information that there was a threat to their lives in Dubai and that international criminals had been hired to eliminate them.

According to sources, the ED team got the last minute tip off from the Prime Ministers Office (PMO).

A controversy has arisen following the recent Intelligence Bureau surveillance of top directorate officials in New Delhi.

The IB interrogated the top officials for around six hours for allegedly leaking information to the press a few days ago.

Directorate officials also confirmed that they are under surveillance by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and it is believed that ED chief M K Bezbaruah will formally write to the home ministry on this subject.