VIJAY DEO JHA
Ranchi, June 4: Trouble has now officially knocked on the door of Pankaj Mishra, the MLA representative of Chief Minister Hemant Soren. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday took up an investigation of a case where one Shambhu Nandan of Pakur had accused him of threatening and assaulting in order to prevent him from participating in a toll tax auction.
The ED has rerecorded the statement of Shambhu Nandan. Highly placed sources said that the agency has seized the mobile phone of Shambhu Nandan in which he had received threatening calls from Pankaj and the minister Alamgir Alam. The aforesaid RMX1805 model Realme mobile phone of Shambhu Nandan IMEI No. 86XXXXXXXXXX72 and 86XXXXXXXXXXX61 have been sent to a forensic laboratory to extract data.
Besides, the agency has secured 18 CDs containing CCTV footage of the Barharwa Nagar Panchayat Office. The ED has taken this under section 50 (5) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
This is just not Pankaj Mishra even senior Congress leader and rural development minister Alamgir Alam may land in trouble. Ahead of the auction, both Alamgir Alam and Pankaj Mishra had called Shambhu and threatened him to stay away from the auction.
It is alleged that Pankaj Mishra called Shambhu on the behest of Alamgir Alam so that Amirul Alam, younger brother of the minister gets the tender of toll tax collection of the Bahrarwa Nagar Panchayat.
Shambhu Nandan said that as he refused to oblige Pankaj Mishra and the minister he was physically prevented and assaulted to participate in the tender. According to the FIR, the incident took place on 22 June 2020.
He lodged an FIR at Barharwa police station in Pakur district against Alamgir Alam, Pankaj Mishra and others under sections 147 (rioting), 149 (member of the unlawful assembly), 341 (wrongful restraint), 342 (wrongful confinement), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 379 (to commit theft), 120 B (criminal conspiracy), 504 (Intentional insult) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC. He said that on the instruction of Pankaj Mishra and Alamgir Alam, on the day of the auction he was assaulted by goons and police had even tried to physically prevent him from participating in the auction.
However, the DSP of Barharwa Pramod Mishra whose role in Rupa Tirkey death case investigation is under the scanner gave a clean chit to Alamgir Alam and submitted the chargesheet.
