West Bengal minister Jyotipriya Mallick, who was arrested in the early hours of Friday in a money laundering case linked to an alleged multi-crore ration distribution scam, fainted inside an overcrowded courtroom when he was produced there by Enforcement Directorate (ED) officers.

The state forest minister collapsed after fainting during a hearing inside the Bankshall court here and was later rushed to a city hospital for immediate medical care, an official said.

Mallick who has been suffering from a number of ailments, was produced in court after being medically examined at the ESI Hospital in southern Kolkata.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested the West Bengal minister under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act in the early hours of Friday following over 17-18 hours of questioning, they said.

ED officials said Mallick was taken from his home in the Salt Lake area on the outskirts of Kolkata to the central agency's office here around 3.30 am.

"I am a victim of a great conspiracy," the TMC minister told reporters after being arrested by ED in connection with the alleged ration distribution scam.

Mallick also alleged that the "conspiracy was hatched by the BJP and its leader Suvendu Adhikari", a former colleague in the TMC party.

"It is a conspiracy. The BJP is actively engaging in plotting nefarious schemes against us," said Mallick, who is currently state forest minister and had previously held the portfolio of food and supplies.

Earlier on Thursday, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had threatened to file a police cas if anything happened to Mallick during the questioning as he was unwell and had several medical ailments.

Banerjee had also termed the raids by the ED against opposition leaders as "a dirty political game" by the BJP.

The ED had earlier arrested a confidant of the minister, Bakibur Rahman, whose remand is ending this week.

Sources said that the central agency may seek to confront the two with each other’s version of events in the case.

Mallick's arrest is the second instance of a cabinet minister of TMC being apprehended by central agencies in connection with corruption cases.

Last year, former state minister Partha Chatterjee was arrested by the ED in a case related to a school job scam.

The agency had searched Mallick's residences on Thursday. It also raided his ancestral house on Amherst Street in central Kolkata. The alleged scam pertains to reported irregularities in the public distribution system and also in the distribution of food grains during the Covid lockdowns.

The ED had sought Mallick’s custody as he was "non-cooperative", officials said.

"He was non-cooperative and gave confusing and self-contradictory replies to our officers during the questioning yesterday. He kept on saying that he was unable to take questions as he was ill. We need him to get answers to several queries related to the scam," the ED officer told PTI.

The TMC labelled the arrest of its senior minister, Jyotipriyo Mallick, as "vendetta" politics and questioned the absence of action against BJP leaders who switched sides, facing corruption cases and investigations by central agencies.

Leading the TMC's response, Minister Shashi Panja accused the BJP of attempting to silence opposition voices raising issues pertinent to the people.

She stated, "It is an attempt by the BJP to muzzle the opposition raising pro-people issues.” Panja went on to ask, “ The question is why corrupt BJP leaders and turncoats who have corruption charges against them are never summoned by the ED and CBI.” She claimed the BJP is scared of the people's movement launched by TMC demanding clearance of MGNREGA dues.

Panja also alleged that the "BJP has engaged in witch-hunting ... (and) weaponized the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the CBI” against opponents and added this “strategy would face resistance from the people of Bengal in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls”.

In response to the arrest of the state minister, the BJP said it was "expected" considering the pace of the investigation in the case.

BJP state spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya said, "The arrest was anticipated after the revelations made by one of his associates, who was apprehended a few days ago. It has once again been proven that the TMC is deeply mired in corruption".

Taking to X, formerly, Twitter, leader of the opposition Suvendu Adhikari said, "Henceforth, the state cabinet meeting will be convened inside the jail." In the past one year, two other MLAs and TMC Birbhum district president Anubrata Mondal have been arrested in connection with school job scams and cattle smuggling cases by central agencies.

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