Kolkata, Nov 26 (IANS) Separate teams of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) were, on Tuesday, conducting simultaneous raid and search operations at four different locations in and around Kolkata in connection with the chit fund case in West Bengal.

Although the ED officials are tight-lipped over the identity of the chit fund entity and its owners against whom such raids and search operations were being conducted, sources said the case was registered against them in 2017 and then the two joint owners of the entity were also arrested.

However, sources said, recently the central agency officials have come across information that even after the arrest of the owners the entity had been carrying out their operations in a clandestine manner and the fresh raid and search operations were in connection with that.

There are various charges against this entity which include illegal collection of public deposits under various multi-level marketing schemes alluring them of hefty returns, parking the same amount outside through the hawala route, duping the investors of not paying them the assured returns after a point of time and money laundering.

As per the latest information available, the four locations where the ED officials were conducting raids include two residences of the owners of the entity, the first being at New Alipore in south Kolkata and the second at Joka in the southern outskirts of Kolkata.

Sources said that besides the four locations in and around Kolkata, simultaneous raid and search operations were being conducted at the offices of the entity in a neighbouring state as well.

The sources said that the investigating officials were examining different documents to identify the influential links of the owners of the entity in both these states.

Each team of the raiding ED officials are escorted by Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) personnel).

West Bengal has a long history of chit funds starting way back in 1980 when the Sanchaita Ponzi scam was busted. After a long silence, the menace started in 2012 with a busting of several chit-fund scams with Saradha and Rose Valley scams being the most prominent among them