Apart from cash and jewellery, CBI also seized investments worth Rs 11 lakh (Representative)
New Delhi:
The CBI has recovered cash worth over Rs 13 lakh and jewelery worth around Rs 52 lakh from Vibhuti Kumar, former district mining officer, Sahibganj, during searches in Jharkhand in connection with an illegal stone quarrying case, officials said on Wednesday. .
The agency had launched its search operation at 20 locations in connection with the case, in which Pankaj Mishra, a former aide of Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, is also an accused in the FIR, they said.
Officials said that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) team seized Rs 75 lakh from Vibhuti Kumar’s house during the operation.
Apart from cash and jewellery, the CBI has also recovered investments worth Rs 11 lakh, documents related to seven properties worth crores of rupees and fixed deposit receipts worth around Rs 10 lakh from Vibhuti Kumar’s premises, they said.
Polling for the Jharkhand Assembly is scheduled on November 13 and November 20. The ruling Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) and other Indian bloc constituents will face off against the BJP and its NDA allies.
The agency registered the case on November 20, 2023 on the direction of the Jharkhand High Court.
In the FIR, the Ranchi unit of the CBI registered a case against Mishra, Pavitra Kumar Yadav, Rajesh Yadav, Sanjay Kumar Yadav, Bachchu Yadav, Sanjay Yadav and Suvesh Mandal.
They are allegedly involved in stone theft and illegal quarrying in Nimbu Hill of Sahibganj.
“Investigations revealed that large-scale illegal mining activities in Sahibganj district have allegedly caused huge losses to the government, mainly through unpaid royalties and violations of mining laws,” a CBI spokesperson said.
He said that during the further investigation, the house of the suspects whose role was revealed is being searched.
He said that the field investigation showed that major individuals and organizations were involved in this operation by using illegally acquired resources or money in various ways to hide their activities.
“Preliminary investigations have gathered evidence, which has revealed the involvement and partnership of key individuals and firms to conduct illegal mining activities and conceal the proceeds,” the spokesperson said.
The High Court had directed the CBI to conduct a preliminary inquiry into the conduct of the accused persons who had been booked by the Sahibganj police and also the petitioner Vijay Hansada, who sought to withdraw the writ petition.
The order was issued on a petition filed by Hansada, who alleged that the stone mafia engaged in ‘illegal mining’ in collusion with government officials including mining officials of their district.
(Other than the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)