Key Points

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has undertaken a major crackdown on extortion rackets happening across West Bengal. In the early hours of Friday, 22 May 2026, the ED conducted a series of simultaneous raids and search operations in relation to an alleged extortion racket involving wanted criminal Biswajit Podder, also known as “Sona Pappu,” and Kolkata's former Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Santanu Sinha Biswas. As per sources, a total of nine raids across Kolkata and Murshidabad commenced from 6am onwards on Friday morning. 

Officials probed into multiple locations as part of the raid, including the residence of a businessman and a hotel located on Kolkata's Roy Street. Another ED team reached the doorsteps of Ex-DCP Biswas in Murshidabad, but found the premises locked. The inquiry began from outside the residence, before officials broke open the lock and continued the search inside.

Additionally, the raid also happened across premises related to Mohammad Ali alias Max Raju, Saurav Adhikari, nephew of Biswas, and a "close associate" of Biswas named Ruhil Amin Ali, who is a Kolkata Police Sub Inspector.

ED officials say that Podder was allegedly operating the extortion racket in collusion with businessman Jay Kamdar, the managing director of Sun Enterprise. Investigators also suspected that Biswas aided in facilitating the network’s operations.

See also: ED Raids Multiple Locations in Punjab Over Alleged Multi-Crore Land Fraud Case

Kolkata Police Commissioner Ajay Nand has cancelled Biswas’s extended tenure as the DCP on May 21, 2026. DC SCO Angsuman Pal will be taking over Biswas's responsibilities with immediate effect, in addition to continuing his existing duties.

A week prior to the ED raids, on May 14, 2026, Biswas was arrested by the ED on grounds of operating an extortion and land-grabbing syndicate. The arrest came after he allegedly failed to cooperate with officials during questioning and deliberately withheld information. He appeared before the ED after skipping several summons issued by the agency. He was also earlier summoned by the ED’s Delhi office in connection with an illegal coal mining case, but had failed to appear before the investigators.

Meanwhile, Podder was apprehended by the ED on 18 May 2026 after a long and exhaustive interrogation. Poddder, who is wanted in connection to a violent incident in South Kolkata, has been on the run for well over three months. 

The case originates from an FIR filed by Kolkata Police against “Sona Pappu,” who faces charges of extortion, rioting, attempted murder, criminal conspiracy, and Arms Act violations.

See also: Jharkhand MGNREGA scam: ED’s fifth charge sheet names kin of IAS officer Pooja Singhal

The alleged extortion racket

Podder, along with his associates, operated an organized crime network that involved extortion and other illicit activities, which resulted in the criminals racking in a substantial amount of money, investigators allege. The proceeds of crime were routed through various channels to avoid suspicion, with a substantial portion being directed towards the organizers of the crime network. 

Friday’s raid on Biswas's residence marks the second time the ex-DCP has found himself in the sights of ED. On April 19, 2026, the agency conducted a raid on Biswas’s Ballygunge residence and his Fern Road flat. Properties located in Kolkata’s Behala neighborhood linked to Jay Kamdar were also probed.

Biswas is currently under scrutiny in multiple ongoing investigations, including alleged irregularities in NRI quota admissions in private medical colleges such as KPC Medical College.

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