2012 illegal grant of mining leases: CBI raids premises of IAS officer, UP staff

LUCKNOW: CBI personnel on Saturday, swooped down on residences of 2008 batch IAS officer B Chandrakala and several government employees on a directive by Allahabad HC to probe illegal grant of mining leases in UP between 2012 and 2013. CBI registered its third FIR in the case and booked 11 people for extortion, theft and criminal conspiracy. Five preliminary enquiries have been registered by the investigating agency in the last two years.

Besides the high-profile IAS officer B Chandrakala, then Hamirpur district magistrate, sitting SP MLC Ramesh Mishra and former BSP 2014 Lok Sabha candidate Sanjay Dixit have also been named as accused.

CBI teams across Kanpur, Lucknow, Hamirpur and Noida, rummaged through furniture, almirahs, sofa sets, kitchenware and drawers in Chandrakala's home at Sapphire Homes and Villas on Fawn Brake Avenue in Lucknow. A separate CBI team carried out simultaneous raids at Mishra's residence in Kanpur.

Chandrakala, who earned the sobriquet of Lady Singham after her videos of leading anti-corruption crusades went viral during the SP regime, is currently on study leave. She served as DM at Meerut, Bulandshahar and Bijnor apart from Hamirpur, where mining licences were illegally allotted.

The FIR is based on directions of Allahabad high court, which ordered a probe after a civil writ petition was filed in January 2013 during SP regime.