NEW DELHI: After Tamil Nadu police's withdrawal of an FIR against lottery king Santiago Martin in an alleged corruption case, now Enforcement Directorate has hit a new hurdle with Kolkata police filing a closure report in two FIRs against Martin and his company citing "want of evidence". In the absence of a predicate offence (police FIR in corruption case), ED's PMLA probe may be closed as it had happened in Tamil Nadu. The probe in Tamil Nadu resumed only after the agency moved Madras high court, which, in a judgment in Oct last year, asked the state police to restore the FIR as there was enough evidence of corruption against Martin and his company Future Gaming & Hotel Services.
In the closure of two FIRs in Kolkata, sources said ED has moved the chief judicial magistrate's (CJM) court in Alipore and the court of additional CJM in Sealdah on the ground that the police have filed a closure report without completing the investigation. "Complete investigation was not done by Kolkata police and the information shared by ED under Section 66(2) of PMLA was also not adhered to," the agency said in its applications and urged the courts to quash the police's closure report. The agency has already attached assets worthRs 1,000 crore in the case.
ED has claimed that it has "shared information and evidence of fraud and money laundering with Kolkata police but they have not taken any action in the matter". During its investigation, the Kolkata unit of ED had attached alleged "proceeds o.
