The Enforcement Directorate on 2 April conducted fresh searches against an executive of political consultancy firm I-PAC, former AAP communication in-charge Vijay Nair and others in connection with an alleged coal pilferage case in West Bengal.

Officials said the searches were carried out under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) at locations in Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Delhi.

Premises linked to I-PAC co-founder and director Rishi Raj Singh in Bengaluru and Vijay Nair in Mumbai were among those searched.

The agency had earlier conducted raids in January at the I-PAC office and at the Kolkata residence of its founder Pratik Jain. Both Singh and Jain were subsequently summoned by the ED for questioning.

They have approached the Delhi High Court seeking to quash the summons, citing their involvement in ongoing election-related work in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu.

The ED investigation stems from a November 2020 FIR registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation alleging a multi-crore coal pilferage racket linked to Eastern Coalfields Limited mines in Kunustoria and Kajora areas near Asansol.

According to the ED, a hawala operator connected to the alleged coal smuggling network routed funds to Indian PAC Consulting Pvt. Ltd., the registered entity of I-PAC.

The agency has alleged that about Rs 20 crore of “hawala” funds generated from illegal coal operations were transferred to I-PAC.

The ED has claimed that these funds were routed through a Mumbai-based ‘Angadiya’ firm that came under scrutiny during its probe into the Delhi excise policy case.

It had earlier alleged that Rs 45 crore in kickbacks from the Delhi excise case were used by the AAP for its Goa Assembly election campaign, and claimed that Pratik Jain handled I-PAC’s operations in Goa.

A Delhi court recently discharged all accused, including former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, Vijay Nair and others in the CBI case related to the excise policy.

The ED has also alleged that its earlier searches in Kolkata were obstructed by Mamata Banerjee and the state administration, and has sought a CBI probe into the matter before the Supreme Court.

The case is currently under investigation, with no charges proven in court so far.