V NARADA
Ranchi, March 17: The accused of the illegal stone mining scam Bacchu Yadav may be a notorious criminal in the eyes of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) but he is, in fact. a well-known man of Sahibganj having a very good character. He possesses noble thoughts and ideology. He actively participates in public programmes for welfare and is involved in agriculture and dairy business.
This is the wording of the Panchayat character certificate which supporters of Bacchu Yadav have been trying to get by obtaining signatures of villagers, members of ward, members of panchayat samiti and the concerned mukhiya. Local residents said that several supporters of Bacchu Yadav are taking signatures from people under panchayats namely Rampur, Aam Bagan, Lichi Bagan, English Tola and others.
The ED arrested Bacchu Yadav last year and filed a chargesheet in the illegal stone mining scam. He is currently lodged at Birsa munda Central Jail and his bail petition was recently rejected by the Jharkhand High Court.
As per the chargesheet of the ED, Bacchu Yadav managed ferry service on river Ganga for Pankaj Mishra and Dahu Yadav. Illegally Mined stone chips were transported to Bihar and Bengal via river Ganga. Bacchu Yadav who has a criminal history was also involved in extortion and land grab. The ED also froze his bank accounts and stated that he got shares in illegal mining which is to the tune of Rs 1000 crore.
A sum of Rs 30 lakh cash was found deposited in his bank account at Jharkhand Rajya Gramin Bank. The ED stated that Bacchu Yadav used to receive booty of crime in every mining lease and trucks by way of extortion. The ED claimed Bacchu Yadav could not give a satisfactory answer of the source of that huge deposit of Rs 30 lakh in his bank account 0000014021027005. The ED stated that Bacchu Yadav has criminal antecedents and was knowingly a party in the activities connected with extortion and collection of levies from the vehicles carrying stone chips illegally. He was directly involved in operations of inland vessels engaged in illegal transportation of trucks laden with stone chips from Sahibganj to Bihar and collection of levies from trucks transported on inland vessels carrying illegally mined stone chips. The ED explained to the court that the offence of money laundering is an independent offence and it is not necessary that the accused charged with the offence of money laundering are the same who are accused in predicate offence.
