The Enforcement Directorate has attached assets worth crores in connection with extortion from contractors, coal traders and transporters in the Magadh Amrapali coal block area of Jharkhand by Naxals.

The attached properties include movable assets held in the name of Bindeshwar Ganjhu and his company Maa Gange Coal Trading Private Limited.

The ED’s money laundering probe is based on an FIR registered, and a chargesheet filed, by the Jharkhand police against Binod Kumar Ganjhu and others. The case was later taken over by the National Investigation Agency, which has so far filed two chargesheets against the accused persons.

According to the ED, Bindeshwar Ganjhu used to extort money from the transporters and delivery order holders in the coal block area, in connivance with other extremists of Tritiya Prastuti Committee (TPC) in Jharkhand’s Chatra district.

“He, being a member of the outlawed organisation TPC, was closely associated with its top leaders. He acquired the proceeds of crime in his name and that of his firm. The funds were projected and claimed as untainted properties,” said an official.

The ED has so far attached properties worth about ₹5 crore in the case, including that of Binod Kumar Ganjhu, Pradeep Ram and two other companies. This is one of the first cases against alleged Naxal elements taken up by the agency for money laundering investigations.