THE JHARKHAND STORY NETWORK
Ranchi, Jan 6: Today, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) summoned Sahibganj Deputy Commissioner Ram Niwas Yadav to join the investigation in the Rs 1250 crore illegal mining case on January 11.
ED summons to Vinod, Pintu
The ED has also summoned architect Vinod Kumar, who is said to be close to Chief Minister Hemant Soren, on January 15. It has called CM’s press advisor, Abhishek Prasad alias Pintu, on January 16.
Notably, the central investigating agency raided their premises on January 3.
It recovered various incriminating digital devices, documents/records and cash amounting to Rs. 36.99 lakhs, including Rs 7.25 lakh, from the Sahibganj DC Ram Niwas Yadav’s camp office.
According to ED sources, the rest of the money was seized from the premises of Vinod Kumar, the owner of Grid Consultant Architect company. According to the ED, Vinod has accumulated massive wealth in his name and the name of his family members.
21 cartridges
Additionally, 19 cartridges of 9 mm bore, two cartridges of .380 mm and five empty cases of .45 pistols were also recovered from the residential premises of Ram Niwas Yadav. During the searches, 30 benami bank accounts were also unearthed, and the same have been frozen.
“Besides, we have seized several incriminating documents and devices from the rest of the premises searched on January 3 and are examining them,” said an ED source.
Ram Niwas Yadav’s role
Yadav, a 2015 batch IAS officer, has been posted as DC in Sahibganj since October 2020. The ED had questioned him last year on January 23 for seven hours as the maximum number of illegal mining and transportation was done during his tenure.
Yadav, hailing from Rajasthan, had been questioned on whether or not he was aware of the illegal stone mining scam in his district worth Rs. 1250 crore, which the agency is investigating.
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The ED had also questioned his failure to stop illegal mining and asked why he did not act against it.
Yadav had been under the scanner of the ED for his proximity with Pankaj Mishra, Hemant Soren’s MLA representative. His role in probing the case where a ship carrying trucks carrying stone chips met with an accident in the Ganga River in Sahibganj was also under scanner.
Yadav was then unable to reply satisfactorily on why he followed Mishra’s instructions and did not book Dahu Yadav, a close associate of Pankaj Mishra, in the ship accident case.
In fact, during raids, he is said to have scolded the ED officials when asked why he did not book Dahu Yadav. “He had been an IPS officer, so he didn’t need to be taught whom to book in a case,” Yadav is said to have told the ED officers.
