The Enforcement Directorate on Monday provisionally attached assets worth Rs.2 crore belonging to former Union Minister of State for Coal Dasari Narayana Rao in connection with a coal block allocation scam case.
The agency had earlier registered a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, based on the Central Bureau of Investigation probe alleging that then Jindal Steel and Power Limited (JSPL) director Naveen Jindal, in collusion with Mr. Rao, obtained a Jharkhand coal block for his companies on false representations.
The case pertained to joint allocation of Amarkonda Murgadangal coal block at Birbhum in Jharkhand to JSPL and Gagan Sponge Iron Private Limited. Mr. Rao was the then Minister of State for Coal. The CBI alleged that Rs.2.25 crore was transferred to Mr. Rao's company Saubhagya Media in the form of share purchases by a Jindal group company.
Probing the money trail, the ED identified properties worth Rs.2 crore, including two vehicles and Rs.50 lakh in fixed deposits, for provisional attachment. An order in this regard was issued on Monday. It is learnt that the agency is contemplating attachment of properties in another coal block case.
