LAGATAR24 NETWORK
Ranchi, July 20: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) today shared the investigation reports of the multi-crore land scam in Ranchi as well as Rs 1000 crore illegal mining fraud in Sahibganj with the Jharkhand government and recommended it to lodge an FIR against those charge-sheeted by the agency.
The ED recommendation to the Jharkhand government has been made under Section 66 of the PMLA Act.
The ED, in its letter to the Jharkhand government, has said that action can also be taken against the accused in these cases by registering an FIR under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Law (IPC).
The main accused in the illegal mining scam are Pankaj Mishra and Prem Prakash while ex-Ranchi DC Chhavi Ranjan and businessman Amit Agarwal among others are the accused in the Ranchi land scam.
This is the fifth case in which the ED has recommended the Jharkhand government to lodge a FIR under IPC.
The ED, according to sources, has said that the agency has got sufficient evidence in these cases and it will be in the interest of the State to probe them under IPC too.
The ED has shared with the State government the details about the confiscation of the land occupied by the army and the Bajra land.
“There is enough evidence to register a case under sections related to forgery in the land scam. At the same time, there is sufficient evidence of the imposition of various sections including the Mining Act in the case of illegal mining. In both the cases, the investigation reports so far are in the interest of the state,” the ED has said.
The ED has shared with the government the rationale given for confiscation of 4.55 acres in the Army’s possession and 7.16 of Bajra’s land in the land scam. It has also been told that 12 accused including former Deputy Commissioner of Ranchi Chhavi Ranjan, Revenue Sub-Inspector of Badagain Zone Bhanu Pratap Prasad have been arrested in this case.
Other accused arrested include Pradeep Bagchi, a fake raiyat of army-occupied land, Dilip Ghosh, director of buyer Jagatbandhu Tea Estate, Dilip Ghosh’s associate businessman Amit Agarwal, land broker Afsar Ali alias Afsu Khan, Imtiaz Ali, Talha Khan, Mohammad Saddam, Fayyaz Khan, Bharat Prasad and Rajesh Rai.
The charge of preparing fake land documents and selling them with mutual cooperation, in connivance with land government officials, cases of falsifying the original documents, have been confirmed.
The ED has also told the state government that Afsar Ali, who prepared fake documents, has sold about 150 acres of land in different areas of Ranchi by making fake documents. There was full co-operation of senior officers in this, it added.
The ED has also reported to the government the connection between former Deputy Commissioner of Ranchi Chhavi Ranjan and Prem Prakash, who is close to politicians and bureaucrats, in the fraudulent sale and purchase of one acre land on Cheshire Home Road. It has also been told that how the nexus of fraudsters and officials was working in Ranchi.
The ED has also told the government how stone mafia is active in Sahibganj
The ED has told the state government that in the illegal mining case, it has so far arrested seven accused including Pankaj Mishra while taking action under money laundering. Other arrested accused include Pankaj Mishra’s aide Bachchu Yadav, politicians and bureaucrats’ close Prem Prakash, Dahu Yadav’s father Pashupati Yadav, Pankaj Mishra’s aide Krishna Kumar Saha, Bhagwan Bhagat and Tinkle Bhagat. The ED has also informed the government that all the accused are related to each other. The amount of illegal mining and illegal transportation has also been transferred to each other’s account.
The ED had revealed illegal mining worth 1000 crores in Sahibganj. It has also said that in the investigation so far, strong evidence has been found that Pankaj Mishra is the mastermind of illegal mining in Sahibganj, on whose co-operation illegal mining has been going on there. All these allegations have been confirmed in the banking transactions, facts in the research and enquiry, the ED said.
