Berhampore: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) raided and searched an online lottery businessman’s shop and house in Murshidabad of West Bengal on Thursday for his suspected links with crypto currency trade and an ongoing fraud in the name of ‘digital arrest’.
The central agency however found the businessman, Rahatullah Sheikh alias Rahat, in his forties, absconding. The man was summoned by the ED three times earlier. He was asked to submit his financial documents in person at the ED office in Salt Lake.
The businessman however skipped his appearance then. At around 10 am on Thursday, five ED officers, escorted by armed central paramilitary forces in five cars, reached Barwan. They first raided Mr Sheikh’s shop at Dak Bungalow area and then his palatial house at Nima area.
They also quizzed his wife and other family members and seized some documents including land deed and financial papers during the seven-hour raid. Two years ago, Mr Sheikh was arrested in an online train ticket scam and was jailed for six months. Out on bail, he started the online lottery business.