The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday, 8 July, conducted raids at 18 locations in Jharkhand as part of a money-laundering investigation against Pankaj Mishra, the political representative of Chief Minister Hemant Soren, and some others, officials said.
The searches are being conducted in Sahibganj district and its towns like Berhait and Rajmahal related to an alleged scam carried out while availing marketplace tender in Sahebganj’s Barharwa in 2020.
The action is being undertaken under sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the officials added.
Meanwhile, a hearing on a different petition filed against CM Soren and his close associates against allotment of mining leases is going to be held on Friday, 8 July.
Apart from Mishra, the ED team is raiding the residences of Dahu Yadav, Sanjay Dewan, Kanhaiya Khudania, Ved Prakash Khudania, and Chhoti Yadav in Sahibganj.
In 2020, a case was registered by one Shambhu Bhagat, another tender bidder of the marketplace, against Pankaj Mishra and few others, allegedly for beating up Shambhu and threatening him to back off from the bidding.
Brother of Jharkhand minister Alamgir Alam was also bidding for the same tender. Shambhu alleged that in order to gain the bid in the favour of the minister's brother, a scam was being carried out through fake companies.
This case originally registered at Barharwa police station was later overtaken by Enforcement Directorate (ED) which started probing into the matter under the charges of PMLA.
At the same time, raids are also going on at more than a dozen places including the residences of Bhagwan Bhagat, Krishna Sah, Dilip Sah, Bhavesh Bhagat, Sonu Singh in Rajmahal, Nimay Seal in Barhait, and Twinkle Bhagat, Patru Singh in Mirzachowki of Barharwa area of the district.
The sudden arrival of ED in Sahibganj created a stir in the entire district, with the presence of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel at nearly every street intersection.
Hearing Against CM Soren's Involvement in Alleged Mining Lease Scam Case in Jharkhand HC
Meanwhile, a hearing on a different petition filed against CM Soren and his close associates against allotment of mining leases is going to be held on Friday, 8 July.
In February 2022, Shiv Shankar Sharma, an RTI activist, filed a petition against the CM obtaining stone chips mining lease in Ranchi in 2021.
The petition said that the Jharkhand High Court had been approached so that it issues an "appropriate direction to prosecute Chief Minister Soren, who is the Minister of Department of Mines". CM Soren misused his office for getting the lease in his name, the petition alleged.
On 16 June 2021, the District Mining Office issued a Letter of Intent for obtaining the lease of 0.88 acres of area in Angara block of Ranchi. Later, on 9 September, the CM reportedly applied for environmental clearance of the same, the petition said, adding that on 18 September, the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority gave the clearance.
A Jharkhand High Court bench comprising Chief Justice Ravi Ranjan and Justice Sujit Narayan Prasad issued a notice on 8 April to CM Soren seeking his reply on a petition filed against him for owning a mining lease in Ranchi district's Angara block.
Stating that the matter is "serious", the bench observed that the incident showed the pathetic state of affairs in the state's Mines Department.
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