With the assembly elections approaching in West Bengal, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has taken major action. On the morning of March 16, 2026, ED teams conducted raids in many areas of the state in a money laundering case related to illegal call centers. Officials are saying that this action is against people running illegal call centers, who used to earn money by cheating foreign citizens (especially Americans) and then launder that money.
How did call centers commit fraud?
According to ED, these call centers used to cheat people by giving fake technical support or company name. They used to steal money from bank accounts by installing remote access tools. Then they used to bring the money to India through cryptocurrency, hawala or other means. Investigation revealed that many such centers were running in Kolkata, South 24 Parganas and other areas.
Till now, the details of how many locations were searched and how much cash or documents were recovered have not been released officially. Officials say that the search is going on and information will be given soon. State police and cyber crime branch are also busting such call centres. Several arrests took place in Kolkata in January-February 2026, where 8-10 people were caught.
ED raid intensifies the stir in election corridors
In recent months, ED has also conducted searches in similar cases in many states (Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Ahmedabad), where crores of rupees were defrauded from American citizens. This raid in West Bengal has come in the election environment, hence the political discussion has intensified. Allegations and counter-allegations may start between TMC and BJP, like it happened earlier in the I-PAC or coal scam case. ED says that this investigation is completely legal and is not related to any party or elections, but only to stop money laundering.
