According to the central probe agency, Anisur Rahman, who is the Deganga block president of the TMC, and his brother Alif Noor allegedly diverted proceeds of the scam to their companies.

The ED had raided their premises on Tuesday and summoned them for questioning.

The ED has also summoned Barik Biswas, considered to be a close associate of former Food and Civil Supplies Minister Jyotipriya Mallick who is already in jail in connection with the case. Mallick was arrested in October last year.

Sources in the ED said that they recovered Rs 20 lakh from the apartment of Barik Biswas. “We recovered documents of 22 properties from Barik Biswas’ flat. Many more people are under the scanner. We have found clues of crores of rupees being swindled. We believe that the investments in the assets have been made anonymously,” an ED officer said. The ED also claimed to have seized Rs 11 lakh from Alif Noor’s house and Rs 14 lakh from his office.

The ED had earlier claimed that nearly 30 per cent of the public distribution system (PDS) ration meant for beneficiaries in West Bengal was diverted to the open market between 2011 and 2021.

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