The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) has attached assets worth Rs 160 crore in connection with its ongoing probe into the alleged large-scale illegal coal mining and pilferage case in the leasehold areas of Eastern Coalfields Limited (ECL).The case has links to political consultancy firm I-PAC, which has Trinamool Congress (TMC) among its clients. The firm’s director, Vinesh Chandel, was arrested by the ED on April 13 in connection with the case. Earlier, in January, the ED had raided the firm’s office in Kolkata and the residence of its director, Pratik Jain.The ED’s money laundering probe is based on a CBI FIR filed in 2020, alleging illegal mining at Eastern Coalfields Ltd’s mines in Kunustoria and Kajora in West Bengal. The agency has alleged that I-PAC was among the entities linked to hawala transactions.According to ED sources, the investigation has revealed that the illegal mining operations were carried out by a syndicate led by Anup Majee, also known as “Lala”.They added that certain beneficiary companies in West Bengal knowingly purchased illegally excavated coal in cash, thereby aiding the concealment and projection of proceeds of crime as legitimate.The attached assets include investments in movable financial instruments such as corporate bonds and alternate investment funds held in the names of beneficiary entities, including Shyam Sel and Power Limited and Shyam Ferro Alloys Limited, part of the Shyam Group managed and controlled by Sanjay Agarwal and Brij Bhushan Agarwal.Further investigation has established that the syndicate was engaged in illegal excavation and widespread coal pilferage, distributing coal to multiple factories in West Bengal with the alleged facilitation of local administrative elements.A key modus operandi involved the use of an illegal transport challan system known as the “Lala pad”, which functioned as a fake tax invoice issued in the name of non-existent entities.Along with the fake transport challan, a Rs 10 or Rs 20 currency note was provided to the transporter, who would photograph it alongside the number plate of the truck, dumper, or tipper carrying the illegal coal and send the image to the syndicate operator.The operator would then circulate the photograph via WhatsApp to police officials concerned and other authorities along the route, ensuring that the vehicle was not intercepted or was promptly released if stopped, the probe revealed.Investigators also uncovered an underground hawala network used to transfer proceeds of crime in cash, bypassing formal banking channels. Transactions were authenticated using unique identifiers — typically the serial number of a currency note shared between sender and recipient — allowing untraceable movement of funds without documentation.With this latest attachment, the total value of assets attached in the case has risen to Rs 482.22 crore.The offence involves multiple layers of complex financial transactions designed to conceal the origin and ownership of illicit funds.