ED freezes Trinamool Congress bank deposits worth INR 4.4 billion
This story was originally published at 18:10 IST on 8 July 2026
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NEW DELHI – The Enforcement Directorate Wednesday issued orders to freeze bank deposits of the All India Trinamool Congress worth INR 4.4 billion under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, following searches in a funds misappropriation case. The amount is held in three private bank accounts of the Mamata Banerjee-led party, media reported, quoting the central investigative agency's officials.
Last month, the Kolkata police had frozen debit operations on these three bank accounts based on complaints from the party's rebel camp seeking a probe into the source of the funds.
Tuesday the agency searched five premises in Kolkata linked to the Carewell Group of Companies, which operates a private jet and charter hiring firm Carewell Aviation, as part of its investigation into alleged dishonest financial dealings and routing of suspected funds through Trinamool Congress bank accounts.
The Enforcement Directorate said that nearly INR 1.60 billion was transferred from the beleaguered political party's accounts to Carewell Aviation India Pvt. Ltd. and its related entity between April 2023 and June 2026. The agency claimed that INR 1.12 billion, allegedly constituting the proceeds of crime, was utilised to purchase an Embraer Legacy 600 aircraft and an Agusta 109 SP helicopter.
The investigators said the airplane and the helicopter were subsequently leased back to the Trinamool Congress itself, with substantial payments allegedly made on the pretext of aircraft usage. The agency described the arrangement as "highly dubious" and designed to camouflage the real purpose of the transactions.
The Trinamool Congress led by former West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee has been in a crisis since it lost power in West Bengal in May. A majority of its members of Parliament and the state assembly have broken away to create new factions--allegedly under pressure from the Bharatiya Janata Party. The breakaway faction in the state assembly led by Ritabrata Banerjee has claimed to be the "real" Trinamool Congress. Members of the faction met the Election Commission of India in New Delhi last week to stake their claim to the party's symbol and its funds. End
Reported by Asim Khan
Edited by Rajeev Pai
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