Now Reading: ED conducts raids in Odisha, West Bengal over investment frauds, hawala probe
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ED conducts raids in Odisha, West Bengal over investment frauds, hawala probe
ED conducts raids in Odisha, West Bengal over investment frauds, hawala probe
The Story in Brief
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: 3 sources, 3 neutral
Sources (3): Syndicated copy (carried by sambadenglish.com, odishabytes.com), Reuters (carried by orissapost.com, thehindu.com), yespunjab.com (neutral report)
This brief was synthesised by AI from the 3 sources linked above, so one read covers every framing they carry. Methodology and corrections.
