The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday stated that it had conducted searches under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act at 12 premises located in the States of Jharkhand, West Bengal, Rajasthan, and Bihar on January 3.
The premises include the residences of Abhishek Prasad ‘Pintu’, the press advisor to Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, Ram Niwas Yadav, the Deputy Commissioner of Sahibganj District, and Rajendra Dubey, the Deputy Superintendent of Police of Sahibganj.
The ED said that the searches were conducted in relation to a case of illegal stone mining worth ₹1,000 crore in Jharkhand’s Sahibganj district.
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The ED initiated the investigation on the basis of an FIR registered in Sahibganj, under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, the Arms Act, and the JMMC Rules, against Bishnu Yadav, Pavitra Yadav, Pankaj Mishra, and others.
The ED investigation revealed that illegal mining activities were being rampant in the Sahibganj area. In order to ascertain the extent of the operation, twenty joint inspections of illegal mining activities were carried out by ED officials along with Administrative, Forest, Mining, and Pollution Control Officers of the State government.
“The joint inspection has confirmed the instance of huge illegal mining as well as denudation of land and forest area leading to other environmental hazards. During the joint inspection, the quantum of illegal mining of more than 23.26 crore cubic feet having an approximate market value of ₹1,250 crore has been detected and determined. The ED investigation also revealed that the kingpin of illegal mining activities was Pankaj Mishra who was arrested by the ED on July 19, 2022, and is currently in judicial custody,” the ED official said.
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During the search operations, various incriminating digital devices, documents/records and cash amounting to ₹36.99 lakhs including ₹7.25 lakh from the camp office of Mr. Ram Niwas Yadav. Additionally, 19 cartridges of 9 mm bore, 2 cartridges of .380 mm and 5 empty cases of .45 caliber pistol were also recovered from his residential premises.
During the searches, 30 Benami bank accounts were also unearthed and the same have been frozen. The searches conducted on January 3 are in continuation of earlier 51 searches and 08 arrests made by the ED in cases under investigation against rampant illegal stone mining in Jharkhand. Further investigation is under progress.
