West Bengal Minister Jyotipriyo Mallick Hospitalised After Arrest

West Bengal Minister Jyotipriyo Mallick, who was arrested on Friday, has been hospitalised after being diagnosed with high blood sugar and renal issues.

West Bengal Minister Jyotipriyo Mallick, who was arrested early on Friday, has been hospitalised after being diagnosed with high blood sugar and renal issues, officials said. Mallick was earlier remanded to Enforcement Directorate (ED) custody for 10 days by a court here following his arrest by the central agency in a money laundering case linked to an alleged multi-crore ration distribution scam.

Medical Condition

The state’s forest minister had fainted during a hearing inside the Bankshal court here, and was later rushed to a city hospital for immediate medical care, the officials said. Mallick, 66, is currently stable, and has been admitted for close monitoring and further evaluation, the hospital said in a bulletin. He underwent a CT scan, MRI, and relevant blood tests. He was admitted with an initial diagnosis of hyperglycaemia, renal impairment, dyselectrolytemia... and hypertension,” it said.

ED Custody

The Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Calcutta Tanumoy Karmakar granted the ED’s plea for custody of the minister and remanded him to the central agency’s custody for 10 days till November 5. The ED said it needed to take Mallick into custody to question him in connection with the alleged ration scam, claiming that it has found his links with one Bakibur Rahaman, who was arrested nearly a fortnight ago in the case. Rejecting the minister’s bail prayer, the court directed that Mallick be produced before the court again on November 6.

Treatment at Private Hospital

Since the minister fell ill in the courtroom, the court allowed his treatment at a private hospital of his choice, following which he could be shifted to Command Hospital in the city if required. The court also directed that the period of hospitalisation if any, will be excluded from the period of the ED custody granted by it.

Arrest and Allegations

The probe agency arrested the minister under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, following over 17-18 hours of questioning. ED officials said Mallick was taken from his home in the Salt Lake area on the outskirts of Kolkata to the central agency’s office here around 3.30 am. I am a victim of a great conspiracy, the TMC minister told reporters after his arrest. Mallick also alleged that the conspiracy was hatched by the BJP and its leader Suvendu Adhikari, a former colleague in the TMC.

Political Reactions

The BJP is actively engaging in plotting nefarious schemes against us, said Mallick, who is currently state forest minister and had previously held the portfolio of food and supplies. On Thursday, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had threatened to file a police case if anything happened to Mallick during the questioning, as he was unwell and had several medical ailments. Banerjee had also termed the raids by the ED against opposition leaders as a dirty political game by the BJP.

Freezing of Bank Accounts

Hours after arresting Mallick, the ED froze his bank accounts as well as those belonging to his wife and daughter, a senior officer said. The minister’s mobile phones were also seized and sent for forensic examination, he added. We have sent instructions to bank authorities to freeze the accounts of Mallick, his wife and daughter. We are also trying to find out if there are other bank accounts used by him or anybody in his family, the officer told PTI.

Mallick’s arrest is the second instance of a cabinet minister of TMC being apprehended by central agencies in connection with corruption cases. Last year, former state minister Partha Chatterjee was arrested by the ED in a case related to a school jobs scam. The TMC has labelled the arrest of its senior minister as vendetta politics and questioned the absence of action against BJP leaders who switched sides, facing corruption cases and investigations by central agencies.