# ED conducts raids in Odisha, West Bengal over investment frauds, hawala probe 2026-11-04T08:42:34+00:00 | Governance | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 5 independent outlets (7 source reports) The Enforcement Directorate on Wednesday (4 November) conducted searches at ten premises in Odisha and West Bengal as part of a money laundering probe linked to an alleged investment fraud, officials said. The probe stems from an Odisha Police Economic Offences Wing FIR that names Kalpana Financial Services and its director Amit Mandal, who allegedly collected about Rs 120 crore from the public by promising monthly returns of 3.5 to 7 per cent from share-market trading. In a separate operation, a three-member ED team with two bank officials raided the residence of Ishwar Bindhani in Mayurbhanj district over an alleged fraud of Rs 70 crore. Bindhani is described as the Odisha head of a Kolkata-based trading firm. Meanwhile, Yes Punjab reports that the ED also searched the residence and office of Kolkata businessman Shyamal Byapari linked to an alleged hawala network handling proceeds from cyber fraud in Guwahati. All searches were underway and further details are awaited. Update, 4 November 2026: Yes Punjab now reports a third ED operation: searches at the residence and office of Kolkata businessman Shyamal Byapari linked to an alleged hawala network handling proceeds from cyber fraud in Guwahati. This operation at two premises in Kamalgazi is separate from the Kalpana Financial Services case and the Bindhani searches. Sambad English and Odisha Bytes confirm the Bindhani raid with identical detail, while Orissa Post and The Hindu carry the Kalpana Financial case. ## Indian Opinion Analysis The five outlets cover two distinct ED operations, each with different subjects, figures and locations, and each reported in uniform straight-news style with no visible slant. Sambad English and Odisha Bytes both report the Rs 70 crore search at Ishwar Bindhani's residence in Mayurbhanj, providing identical details of a three-member ED team with bank officials. Orissa Post and The Hindu both carry the Rs 120 crore Kalpana Financial Services case covering ten premises across Odisha and West Bengal, with nearly identical wire-copy wording including the 3.5 to 7 per cent monthly return figure. Yes Punjab reports a third, unrelated Kolkata search of Shyamal Byapari linked to a Guwahati cyber-fraud hawala network, a story absent from the other sources. The only point of overlap is the ED's increased scrutiny of Kolkata, which Yes Punjab notes separately. ## Coverage Coverage: 3 sources, 3 neutral - Syndicated copy - sambadenglish.com reports Bindhani raid as neutral straight news, Rs 70 crore figure - odishabytes.com reports Bindhani raid with same facts as Sambad English - Reuters - orissapost.com reports Kalpana Financial Rs 120 crore case, ten premises searched - thehindu.com reports Kalpana Financial case with identical wire-copy details - yespunjab.com (neutral report) reports separate Kolkata hawala probe linked to Guwahati cyber fraud This brief was synthesised by AI from the 3 sources linked above, so one read covers every framing they carry. Tags: Amit Mandal, Enforcement Directorate, Kalpana Financial Services, Odisha, Prevention of Money Laundering Act, West Bengal Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/ed-raids-odisha-bengal-in-rs-120-crore-investment-fraud-case/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/ed-raids-odisha-bengal-in-rs-120-crore-investment-fraud-case/#story-in-brief How this brief was made: an AI model read the reports linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. Stance labels are editorial classifications of how each outlet framed this story, assigned by the same model, not ratings of the outlets. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/