VIJAY DEO JHA
Ranchi, Nov. 4: Two premier investigative agencies namely the Income Tax Department and the Enforcement Directorate on Friday simultaneously carried raids at multiple locations in Jharkhand and Bengal.
But the search and survey of the IT department had an element of the surprise as the agency swooped at two MLAs of the ruling alliance namely Jaimangal Singh alias Anoop Singh (an MLA of the Congress from Bermo) and MLA from Poraiyahat seat Pradeep Yadav who is also associated with the Congress. It is said that Jaimangal Singh who is into the coal trade is under suspicion for tax evasion. Pradeep Yadav, sources said, is said to have acquired landed properties in Godda and Ranchi which doesn’t match with his income he disclosed.
The IT team also searched the premises of one Manish Bansal in Ranchi who is associated with the coal trade besides Ajay Singh and others.
Seen as Jharkhand CM’s man, Jaimangal Singh had lodged two FIRs to save government
Jaimangal Singh is the elder son of the senior Congress leader late Rajendra Prasad Singh. He is considered close to JMM boss and Chief minister Hemant Soren. He grabbed the limelight and the controversy as well when he lodged an FIR at the Kotwali police station in Ranchi alleging some persons were trying to topple the Congress supported JMM-Congress-RJD government headed by Hemant Soren.
Three persons were arrested namely Amit Singh and Nivaran Prasad Mahto (both natives of Bokaro) and Abhishek Kumar Dubey (Palamu). The Police further claimed that the accused had travelled to Delhi along with Irfan Ansari and Uma Shankar Akela of the Congress and Independent Amit Yadav. It was also said that these three accused along with others were in touch with as many as nine Congress MLAs and they were ready to pay any amount to them to break the party and help the BJP to form the government.
The Ranchi police had claimed that the accused confessed that they were the cogs of a high-level notorious game plan. The police said that the MLAs also met BJP MLAs from Maharashtra Chandrashekhar Rao Babankule and Charan Singh. Police claimed that Dubey in his confessional statement has said that one Maharashtra-based person Jayakumar Belkhede had arranged logistics for them. It stirred hornet’s nest in the Congress as many party insiders and MLAs rebuked him for casting aspersions on the party and said that he was doing all to gain confidence of the Chief Minister.
Jaimangal Singh again came to the limelight when three Congress MLAs namely Irfan Ansari, Rajesh Kacchap and Naman Bixel Kongari were detained and later arrested at Howrah along with cash to the tune of nearly Rs. 50 Lakh on 30th July this year. He lodged a zero FIR stating that BJP Chief Minister from Assam Himanta Biswa Sarma offered him to break the Congress in Jharkhand. The FIR was transferred to the Bengal police and investigation reached a flashpoint when the Bengal police unsuccessfully tried to search the premises of the private secretary of Assam CM in Delhi.
Pradeep Yadav who emerged as a confidante of the CM in Santhal Pargana
The seasoned MLA of Santhal Pargana, Pradeep Yadav was in the BJP before he quit the BJP along with Babulal Marandi and formed Jharkhand Vikash Morcha. After the 2019 assembly election, Marandi merged his party in the BJP whereas Pradeep Yadav along with another party MLA Bandhu Tirkey joined the Congress. However, the matter of their joining is pending before the Speaker’s court.
The arrest of Pankaj Mishra — the MLA representative of Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren — in the illegal stone mining case created a big void in Santhal Pargana. It is said that he was behind the arrest of stone mining businessman Prakash Chandra Yadav in Ranchi. It is the same Prakash Chandra Yadav who had complained to the ED about Pankaj Mishra, his associates Dahu Yadav and others. The ED blew the lid off a whopping illegal stone mining scam in Jharkhand worth over Rs 1000 Crore which has now created troubles for the Chief Minister. Prakash Chandra Yadav has been booked under Criminal Law Amendment Act.
There is a whisper in the political circle that after the arrest of Prakash Chandra Yadav the MLA Pradeep Yadav won the trust of the government. He got a major say in the affairs related to districts of Santhal Pargana as well as key postings in the state.
