VIJAY DEO JHA
Ranchi, Oct 7: The Enforcement Directorate on Friday is said to have arrested Kolkata-based businessman Amit Agrawal in connection with the cash for PIL case.
As many as four police officials two from Jharkhand and two from Bengal are under the scanner of the ED for assisting Amit Agrawal in hatching a conspiracy.
He is set to be taken to Ranchi from Kolkata tomorrow where he will be produced before the Special PMLA court. A team of ED officials had gone to quiz him after which he was arrested. Amit Agrawal who is said to be closely associated with the current government, his name prominently figured in the prosecution complaint of the ED related to the illegal mining scam in Jharkhand.
The ED claimed Amit Agrawal was involved in the laundering of proceeds of crime generated out of the illegal mining.
Amit Agrawal is the complainant against Jharkhand High Court advocate Rajiv Kumar. He alleged that Rajiv Kumar demanded Rs 10 Crore not to drag his name in the shell company related PIL 4290/21 which is primarily against Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren and his associates. Shiv Shankar Sharma is the petitioner of this PIL filed before Jharkhand High Court and Rajiv Kumar was his advocate. Amit Agrawal stated that he was frightened by Rajiv Kumar hence he agreed to pay Rs One crore.
On July 31, Kolkata police arrested Rajiv Kumar from Kolkata and claimed that Rs 50 Lakh was also recovered from his possession which Rajiv Kumar had extorted from Amit Agrawal.
The Kolkata police claimed Rajiv Kumar stated that the amount would be distributed among judicial officials and enforcement directorate officers to manage the case. The Kolkata police even summoned the then deputy director of the Ranchi zone of the ED, Subodh Kumar.
As the name of the ED official surfaced, the ED decided to investigate and an ECIR was lodged in Ranchi.
