Kolkata, September 16, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has arrested Kolkata-based construction businessman Amit Gangopadhyay in a money laundering investigation linked to alleged land grabbing and illegal construction activities in and around south Kolkata.
According to the agency, Gangopadhyay’s company allegedly developed housing projects on encroached land at multiple locations. He was summoned to the ED office on Tuesday for questioning and was subsequently arrested. Sources said the arrest followed allegations that he was not cooperating with the investigation.
Gangopadhyay is considered a close associate of former Trinamool Congress MLA Debashis Kumar. Police had registered around 20 FIRs against Gangopadhyay in 2023 at different police stations, including in South 24 Parganas, in connection with allegations of land grabbing, cheating and forgery. The ED subsequently initiated a money laundering investigation based on those cases.
The agency had earlier carried out searches at multiple locations linked to the probe and said it recovered documents and electronic evidence relevant to the investigation. Debashis Kumar has also been questioned by the ED several times, while searches were conducted at his residence and office.
The investigation is part of a wider alleged land-grabbing network in Kolkata that has also resulted in the arrests of construction businessman Joy Kamdar, alleged land mafia figure Biswajit Poddar alias Sona Pappu, and former Kolkata Police Deputy Commissioner Santanu Sinha Biswas.
Kamdar was arrested in April, while Poddar and Sinha Biswas were arrested in May. Investigators allege that the accused generated substantial proceeds through land-grabbing operations.
The ED’s investigation is continuing. The agency has previously said in related land-grabbing investigations that it examines property documents, digital evidence and financial transactions to trace alleged proceeds of crime.
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