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However, in its official press release, the ED has not named Mamata Banerjee as an accused in the case. The agency has also not alleged that Banerjee knowingly received proceeds of crime or that she was aware of any alleged wrongdoing connected with the money.

In a statement published on its official X handle on Thursday, the ED said that approximately Rs 30 lakh was transferred from the bank account of ‘Octave Records’, a company linked to Indranil Sen, to Mamata Banerjee. During the course of the investigation, the agency said, Indranil Sen claimed that the amount was paid as ‘royalty’.

The ED has also alleged that while Indranil Sen was serving as a minister, more than Rs 3.8 crore in cash was deposited into the bank accounts of both the former minister and his company, Octave Records. The investigating agency said that it is examining the source of these funds as well as the subsequent movement of the money.

The investigation is being conducted under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in connection with alleged financial irregularities involving ‘massArt’. As part of the probe, the ED carried out searches at 15 locations linked to Indranil Sen, his wife and some of his close associates two days ago. On Wednesday, Sen was questioned by ED officials for nearly 10 hours at the agency’s office at the CGO Complex in Kolkata.

The case dates back to an FIR registered at the Bowbazar police station in June this year. The complaint alleged that massArt had made a misleading claim about having an association with UNESCO while selling tickets for its Durga Puja preview events. Indranil Sen, however, has denied the allegations.

According to the ED, while Sen was serving as a minister, several tenders issued by the Tourism and Culture departments, with a combined value of more than Rs 85 crore, were awarded to companies allegedly owned by his ‘close associates’, Dhruvajyoti Basu and Dipesh Roy.

The investigating agency has further alleged that these companies subsequently transferred substantial amounts of money to several firms controlled by relatives of Indranil Sen. The ED also claimed that large amounts of cash were later withdrawn from the accounts of those companies.

The agency is examining the alleged financial transactions, the source of the funds and the flow of money between the different entities as part of its PMLA investigation. The allegations made by the ED are part of an ongoing investigation and the agency’s claims are yet to be established through a final judicial determination.

The mention of Mamata Banerjee’s name in the ED’s press release has meanwhile triggered a fresh political exchange in West Bengal. Trinamool Congress MLA Kunal Ghosh described the development as an ‘intentional strategy’ and alleged that the central investigating agency was being used to bring Banerjee’s name into the discussion in order to divert attention from the controversy surrounding Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.

Ghosh further alleged that Banerjee was being targeted because of her opposition to the central government. These remarks represent the Trinamool Congress’s political response to the ED’s claims and are separate from the investigating agency’s allegations.

The ED’s statement has therefore brought renewed attention to the financial transactions allegedly involving Indranil Sen-linked entities, the reported transfer of around Rs 30 lakh to Mamata Banerjee and the larger financial trail involving more than Rs 85 crore in departmental tenders. While the agency continues to investigate the alleged money trail under the PMLA, the precise legal implications of the transactions will depend on the findings of the investigation and subsequent proceedings.