Real Estate Giant Merlin Group Under ED Lens as Fresh Raids Hit Kolkata Locations

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) intensified its investigation into the Kolkata-based real estate firm Merlin Group on Friday, conducting fresh searches across multiple locations in the city and North 24 Parganas. These raids, carried out under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), follow an initial round of searches on April 8 targeting the company’s promoters, Sushil and Saket Mohta. The federal agency is probing allegations of land grabbing and the use of forged documents to fabricate property titles, which the ED claims were used to induce public investment in large-scale real estate projects.

Central to the probe are suspected financial links between the Merlin Group and high-ranking West Bengal government officials and politicians. While the agency suspects the company commercially exploited “grabbed” land through unauthorized projects, the Merlin Group has maintained its innocence, stating that all transactions are transparent and its projects, specifically “Merlin Niyasa,” were developed under valid, lawful agreements. As West Bengal approaches its two-phase assembly elections on April 23 and 29, these high-profile raids have added to the political heat surrounding allegations of corruption in the state.