Kolkata: The key Enforcement Directorate officer who was integral to the agency’s probe into SSC jobs-for-cash scam and municipal recruitment scam will now head the east zone of the agency. Satyabrat Kumar, a 2004-batch Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer, will join the eastern zone office of ED as the special director.
Subhas Agrawal, special director of enforcement (SDE), Eastern Region, will replace Kumar with immediate effect or until further order as SDE, Western Region.
Kumar, who was behind the arrest of Nirav Modi in London, has been serving as the SDE of the Mumbai headquartered Western region of the agency. His team tracked down the fugitive and presented evidence before the London court and Nirav Modi was sent behind the bars. Kumar has also played a key role in exposing the Rs 13,000 crore Punjab National Bank scam.
His team cracked cases against narcotics trafficker Memon Iqbal Mohammed or Iqbal Mirchi, led the probe against Yes Bank founder Rana Kapoor, probe related to the $1 million-plus Mahadev Online Book (MOB) illegal online betting/gaming cases.
Kumar’s efforts were also instrumental in the ED being able to return around Rs 18,000 crore to the banks that was recovered from another fugitive Vijay Mallya.
During his earlier stint in the eastern zone, Kumar was the key officer who led the SSC jobs-for-cash probe. While delving deeper, his team also unearthed scams in the recruitments at municipalities. During his tenure, the agency also cracked the online gaming scam.
The agency, apart from other cases, is now probing the alleged financial irregularities at the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital.