Two top honchos of a Calcutta-based company have been arrested following raids carried out by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) throughout Tuesday in a Ponzi-scheme related scam.

Basudeb Bagchi, founder of the Prayag group, was arrested from his Alipore residence, while his son, Avik, was picked up from Delhi.

On Tuesday, separate teams of officials from the ED accompanied by central armed forces had carried out raids at multiple locations across the city linked to the Prayag group.

The ED alleges the company ran several Ponzi schemes and had duped investors to the tune of Rs 1,900 crore by floating illegal schemes.

Apart from Bengal, the company has presence in Assam, Odisha, Tripura and other states of the northeast, as well as offices in Delhi and Mumbai. The group is accused of collecting money from investors alluring them with heavy returns. The ED alleges the money thus raised would be parked through the hawala route and investors would be deprived of the promised amount.

In 2017, the father-son duo was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation in connection with a similar case registered in Odisha. Both were out on bail.

The company has a history of launching grand schemes and brushes with the law.

In May 2013, the Bengal government had ordered a crackdown against the group which had allegedly encroached at least 360 acres of land for a film city project in West Midnapore’s Chandrakona.

The gala launch of the film city – which was to be attended by then state industry minister, Partha Chatterjee, who is now behind bars for his alleged involvement in an alleged teachers’ recruitment scam – had happened a year ago for the proposed film production centre to come up over 2,700 acres with an investment of at least Rs 1,000 crore.

Later, the state land and land reforms department, which is under chief minister Mamata Banerjee, discovered the group had encroached upon 360 acres of state-owned land for the first phase of the project.

“These companies flourished soon after the change of government. Many ministers and leaders were seen attending events organised by these companies, lending credibility,” said a senior government official.

According to sources, the ED is keen to find out how the company could raise such an amount despite being on the radar of central agencies for many years and whether any influential person was involved with their schemes.