VIJAY DEO JHA
Ranchi, July 19: After a long ‘who blink first game’ Pankaj Mishra finally turned up before Ranchi zonal office of the Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday for his questioning in the illegal mining case. But his close confidante Dahu Yadav skipped questioning on the ground of the poor health of his mother.
“The ED had summoned Dahu Yadav for questioning. But he had to rush as his mother had fallen ill. I have informed this to the ED,” Dahu Yadav’s lawyer Shashikant Jaiswal said. Dahu Yadav has been interrogated by the ED for the past couple of days.
Meanwhile, the security at ED office on Airport Road was enhanced with additional deployment of the CRPF. Wearing white shirt and blue trousers Pankaj Mishra entered the ED premises at 10.30 AM. He is the MLA representative of Chief Minister Hemant Soren and a key suspect of the money laundering case.
During the questioning, the ED explained to him the charges he is facing. He was asked to explain a viral voice clip where he is heard threatening a businessman of Pakur to stop him from participating in the auction held in Sahibganj. The ED asked if he could recognize whether it was his voice.
When the ED asked him to explain his business concerns he said that he was a politician and never misused his position and committed no wrong. To this, the ED asked a counter question that whether or not his properties witnessed abnormal growth in the last few years. The ED pointed questions related to his involvement in the illegal stone mining and transportation through inland water transport on river Ganga. The ED is learnt to have shown him some documents related to assets raised by him either individually or in a partnership or on the name of someone. The ED has inquired about a school supposedly situated in Katihar
Notably, the ED seized Rs 11.88 crores cash belonging to Pankaj Mishra, Dahu Yadav and others which were parked in 37 different bank accounts. The ED is originally investigating the tender scam case ECIR/RNZO/03/2022. The ECIR was lodged on the basis of an FIR lodged at Barharwa police station in Sahibganj district in June 2020 by a Pakur based businessman Shambhu Nandan Kumar. He lodged the FIR against state rural development Alamgir Alam and Pankaj Mishra. He claimed that Pankaj Mishra threatened him not to participate in a tender for the collection of toll tax.
