Kolkata/IBNS: West Bengal Forest Minister Jyotipriyo Mallick, who has been arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the ration scam case, on Friday claimed he was a victim of the opponent Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)'s conspiracy.

Mallick said his party Trinamool Congress' supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is aware of the "conspiracy".

"I am innocent. The BJP has conspired against me. Mamata-di knows it. I was, is and will continue to be with my party... Let me be very clear that I am already free... My party is supporting me," the senior politician said, while he was being taken for a medical check-up by the central probe agency.

Mallick, a long term associate of Mamata Banerjee, was arrested in the wee hours last Friday.

The central probe agency had raided eight locations including the Salt Lake residence of Mallick in connection with the scam, which allegedly took place when the TMC leader was the food minister.

The ED, which is probing the money trails of the alleged irregularities in the statutory ration distribution system, has information that the arrested businessman Bakibur Rahaman has huge businesses in Bengal, Mumbai, and even in Dubai worth nearly 100 crores of rupees.

Sources also claimed Bakibur had rapport with Mallick when the latter was the state food supplies minister in the previous Mamata Banerjee government.

In her restricted response to Mallick's arrest, Mamata on Wednesday said, "My party will answer. Of course, he is the minister of the government. But do you know how he worked for digitised ration cards, how they cancelled one crore of false ration cards?...

"I am not replying to other legal questions now because they will defend themselves."

After the win in the 2021 assembly poll, Mallick was shifted to the Department of Forest Affairs and Non-Conventional and Renewable Energy sources.

Mallick represents the Habra assembly segment in the North 24 Parganas.