Vinesh Chandel (Photo credit: Vinesh Chandel, co-founder of I-PAC/X)

New Delhi: I-PAC promoter director Vinesh Chandel, who was arrested here late on Monday night, was sent to 10 days’ ED custody after being produced before the Patiala House court at the residence of Additional Sessions Judge Shefali Barnala Tandon around midnight. The judge gave his verdict at 3.30 in the morning.Meanwhile, the ED has issued summons to I-PAC’s founding director Prateek Jain’s wife Barbie Jain and Prateek’s brother Pulkit Jain, asking them to appear for questioning at the agency’s headquarters on Wednesday. The judge noted prima facie evidence of Chandel’s involvement in unaccounted cash transactions and hawala transactions. It was observed that I-PAC promoter director Vinesh Chandel had “directed the deletion of emails and sensitive data including deletion of financial records” immediately after the ED search on April 2, 2026, and said that “by doing so, the arrested person has deliberately attempted to destroy physical evidence and create obstruction during the investigation”.The court recorded that Chandel “knowingly aided and abetted actively in the process and activity involving the proceeds of crime, including its concealment, possession, acquisition, use and disposition as untainted property”, making him liable under Section 3 of the PMLA.The ED gave Chandel custody till April 23 and directed him to interrogate him under CCTV surveillance and undergo medical examination every 48 hours.According to agency sources, ED’s money trail in its ongoing investigation into the West Bengal coal scam has tracked hawala transactions allegedly linked to I-PAC. Although Chandel’s arrest came this year on a separate FIR filed by the Economic Offenses Wing of Delhi Police, the investigation into the coal scam began in Kolkata in 2020.The ED had earlier estimated that the proceeds of crime from the coal scam would be more than Rs 1,300 crore. Rujira Banerjee, wife of TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee, is one of the suspects in the case and has been called for questioning by the ED several times. ED has also interrogated Abhishek in the case.“Being a founding director and key decision-maker, Vinesh exercised control over the financial and operational affairs of the company and was actively involved in the process of generating the proceeds of crime,” the ED said.The agency accused I-PAC of “dividing receipts among banking channels and unaccounted cash components, including money received from political parties”. Among the documents seized from the I-PAC offices, the ED had recovered a note with reference to “50% cheque”, which allegedly indicated cash receipts from the parties.“These funds were used for election-related expenses and other purposes including influencing public perception,” the ED said in its remand note. It said I-PAC has found evidence of receiving Rs 13.5 crore as “unsecured loan” during 2019-2021 from Ram Sethu Infrastructure, with which it had no significant business relationship.