India
Businessman Arrested in Land Grabbing Probe Linked to Former TMC MLA
On Tuesday, September 15, 2026, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) apprehended businessman Amit Ganguly, an associate of former Trinamool Congress (TMC) MLA Dabashish Kumar. The arrest is connected to an investigation into the illegal acquisition of land and properties. Ganguly faces approximately 23 First Information Reports (FIRs) filed by the West Bengal Police, primarily in South 24 Parganas and surrounding districts. These cases largely involve repeated criminal activities related to property dealings through fraudulent and unlawful methods.
ED officials stated that Ganguly was summoned for interrogation at their office on September 15, 2026. He was subsequently arrested after his responses to investigators' questions were deemed unsatisfactory. An ED official detailed Ganguly's alleged methods for acquiring control over properties, which include using forged Board Resolutions, fabricated agreements for sale with forged signatures, fabricated deeds and other documents, manipulation of land records, initiating civil proceedings based on false claims, denying landowners their lawful entitlements, and employing threats and physical force against individuals asserting their legitimate rights.
Previously, in March, the agency conducted a raid at Ganguly's residence in connection with this case, ahead of the State Assembly election. The former MLA was questioned the following day. Mr. Kumar, who represented the Rasbehari constituency in Kolkata as a TMC MLA and served as a mayor-in-council in the Kolkata Municipal Corporation, lost to BJP Minister Swapan Dasgupta in the May election.
This arrest follows the West Bengal police's apprehension of another close associate of Mr. Kumar, Ashok Das, just a week prior. Das was arrested from Kolkata's Rasbehari Avenue on allegations of forging documents, extortion, cheating, and issuing threats to gain control of a city club. Numerous local-level Trinamool leaders, along with former and sitting MLAs such such as Debo Prasad Bag, Sabyasachi Dutta, and Tapan Chattopadhyay, have been arrested on corruption and extortion charges since the change of government in West Bengal.