Bhubaneswar: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday carried out raids at multiple places in Odisha in connection with the money laundering case, involving honeytrap racket kingpin Archana Nag
According to sources, raids are being carried out at eight places, including Archana’s parental house at Kesinga in Kalahandi district, in-laws’s place at Jaleswar in Balasore district and her Satya Vihar bungalow in Bhubaneswar in the presence of CRPF and police personnel.
The ED had earlier registered a case against Archana, her husband Jagabandhu Chand, and their associates Khageswar Patra and Shradhanjali Behera. It has reportedly issued notices to Khageswar and Shradhanjali for questioning.
At present, Archana and Jagabandhu are lodged in Jharpada Special Jail following their arrest on October 6 and October 20 respectively. The ED is already probing the bank accounts of the couple after an investigation revealed that Archana made all payments to different people and institutions in cash but received the money from her contacts by withdrawing from ATM kiosks. She also paid in cash for luxury cars, expensive clocks and other items.
The GST authorities had recently conducted a raid on a showroom of used cars at Jaleswar in Balasore district, in which Jagabandhu had invested heavily.
The blackmailer and her husband allegedly amassed assets worth around Rs 30 crore within a span of four years from 2018 to 2022 by extorting a huge amount of money from high-profile people including political leaders, ministers, businessmen and other bigwigs.
The agency is likely to investigate the channel through which money flew and may also seek to unearth the reason behind such payments.
