The Enforcement Directorate’s actions targeting Sushil Mohta, Saket Mohta and others of the Merlin Group continued for a third day today with several papers and files reportedly seized. It is learnt reliably that the complainant, Mohan Chandra Mondal, has been asked by ED to present himself on 15 April to assist the investigation.
Meanwhile, The Statesman has learnt that Mondal had alleged in his writ petition filed with Calcutta High Court that officials of Kolkata Police had made strenuous efforts over the past two months to protect the controversial builder, who is said to be very close to Mayor Firhad Hakim and several senior officers of the state government.
In his petition seeking a direction of mandamus, Mondal, who alleges that Mohta and others had deprived him of his 3.65 acre plot in Anandapur through fraud and forgery, stated that officers of the Anti-Fraud Section of Kolkata Police had tried their best to persuade him to withdraw the case. Mondal has alleged in his writ petition, which is pending adjudication before the Calcutta High Court, that the criminal case registered with Anandapur police station against the Mohtas and their associates on directions of the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, Alipore on 9 January 2026, was abruptly taken over by the Anti-Fraud section four days later.
Mondal said he was summoned by the Anti-Fraud Section on 24 and 28 January 2026. On the first day, he alleges that officers made inquiries from him about the legal strategy he proposed to adopt in case the Mohtas and their co-accused filed quashing proceedings, or sought bail, and the legal precedents he would cite. “Such conduct is highly suspicious and wholly inconsistent with the role of an impartial investigative agency,” Mondal stated in his writ. On 28 January, Mondal has alleged that officers of the Anti-Fraud section “tried their level best to dissuade” him and his advocate from pursuing the case.
Mondal submitted to the High Court that various state agencies were themselves involved in the commission of the office and that Kolkata Police could not be “expected to conduct a fair, impartial and effective investigation”. He further submitted: “The allegations in the present case involve influential persons, public servants, politically connected individuals, due to which the police authorities, being under the administrative control of the State, cannot be expected to conduct an independent and fearless investigation.”