Lagatar24 Network
Ranchi, March 20: Retired DSP of Jharkhand Police Yagnarayan Tiwari finally turned up before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday for questioning. Besides, Yagnarayan Tiwari, an ASI of Jharkhand Police Prayag Raj also appeared before the ED for questioning.
Well-placed sources confirmed that they have arrived at the Ranchi zonal office of the ED. “Both were summoned in a common matter. They had illegally met illegal stone mining accused Pankaj Mishra in judicial custody for which they had neither sought permission from the competent court, jail administration or the ED. They secretly met Pankaj Mishra which is illegal,” said well-placed sources.
Pankaj Mishra was lodged at the paying ward of RIMS where he was kept for treatment under judicial custody. Yagnarayan Tiwari turned up after the ED sent him the second summons as he had not turned up on the first occasion.
Yagnarayan Tiwari retired in January this year as DSP (Headquarter) in Sahibganj district. He investigated a case against Pankaj Mishra FIR 146/21 which later on was taken over by the ED. One Ramesh Paswan had lodged an FIR against Pankaj Mishra under sections of IPC and Prevention of SC, ST Prevention of Atrocities Act at Taljhari police station. The ED later merged this FIR with the instant case of the Barharwa toll plaza case which is the basis of the investigation of the illegal stone mining probe. Other accused in this FIR are district mining officer Bibhuti Kumar and others.
Yagnarayan Tiwari supervised this case and had given a clean chit to Pankaj Mishra. However, Ramesh Paswan has filed a protest petition. A few days back, the court of Justice Sanjay Kumar Dwivedi directed Sahibganj SP Anuranjan Kispotta to file a personal affidavit in this case.
About Prayag Raj, it is alleged that he was posted at Kanke police station when he visited Pankaj Mishra at RIMS. He is presently posted at Bariatu police station.
The ED had long been getting complaints about Pankaj Mishra meeting people and making phone calls. On this, the ED carried out a raid and detained two close aides of Pankaj Mishra named Suraj Pandit and Chandan Yadav who provided their mobile phone to Pankaj Mishra to make phone calls. The ED procured CCTV footage from RIMS to verify who else met Pankaj Mishra at RIMS.
