New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has appointed its western region special director to head its eastern region headquartered in Kolkata, which is undertaking some sensitive and high-profile investigations, including the R G Kar hospital money-laundering case and other matters related to alleged corruption involving politicians.
Satyabrat Kumar, a 2004-batch Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer of the Customs and Indirect taxes cadre, has been transferred to head the ED's eastern region office in Kolkata. Till now, he was serving as the special director of the federal agency heading its western region in Mumbai.
Kumar is being replaced in the western metropolis by Subhash Agrawal, the special director of the eastern region, according to an order issued by the ED headquarters here on Tuesday.
Kumar, who has been in the ED for about 11 years now, has led many high-profile investigations in the western region, including an alleged USD 2 billion bank fraud against diamond traders Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi, a bank-loan fraud case against liquor baron Vijay Mallya and a number of "sensitive" cases involving politicians from Maharashtra.
The ED's western region, under Kumar, also investigated the Mahadev online betting app case, in which links to various Chhattisgarh-based politicians and Bollywood actors are being investigated. Kumar also served as the staff officer to former ED director Sanjay Kumar Mishra in Delhi.
The eastern region of the ED has jurisdiction over all the northeastern states, apart from West Bengal, while the western region looks after Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat and Goa. These regions are headed by officers of the rank of a special director who reports to the agency's director in Delhi.
