Jharkhand CM Soren's political aide held in illegal mining case

RANCHI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested Pankaj Mishra, a political aide of Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren, on Tuesday in connection with a money-laundering probe linked to alleged illegal mining in the state, officials said.
They said Mishra was arrested under the criminal sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, adding that he was "evasive in his replies" during questioning.
Mishra is expected to be produced before a Ranchi court on Wednesday, where the ED will seek his custody.

The federal probe agency had raided at least 19 locations in Sahibganj, Barhet, Rajmahal, Mirza Chauki and Barharwa in Jharkhand on July 8 as part of the probe against Mishra linked to alleged irregularities in the operation of toll plaza tenders and instances of illegal mining in the state.
After the raids, the ED had frozen deposits of Rs 11.9 crore lying in 37 bank accounts belonging to Mishra and Dahoo Yadav, a person linked to him. Apart from this, "unaccounted" cash amounting to Rs 5.3 crore was also seized by the agency, which claimed that the money was linked to "illegal mining" in Jharkhand.
Five stone crushers that were being "illegally" operated and an equal number of "illegal firearm cartridges" were also seized by the ED.
"The evidence collected during the course of the investigation, including the evidence and documents, revealed that the seized cash/bank balance is derived from illegal mining being rampantly done in the Sahibganj area including the forest area," the ED said. The agency said it was probing a trail of Rs 100 crore of "proceeds of crime" generated from illegal mining operations in the state.
The second instance where cash linked to alleged illegal mining in the state was unearthed pertains to the ED action against suspended IAS officer Pooja Singhal in May.
The ED action comes at a time when Soren is embroiled in a case of owning a mining lease in the state.