Hemant Soren’s press secretary was called by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Sunday and requested to come before the organization to interrogate the illegal mining case and the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
Abhishek Prasad alias Pintu, Mr. Soren’s press secretary, is scheduled to be questioned by the ED on Monday at its Ranchi zonal office (August 1).
The ED has previously detained Pankaj Mishra, who serves as the Chief Minister’s MLA representative in the Berhait Assembly Constituency, as part of its continuing overall operation in Jharkhand.
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According to ED sources, Mr. Mishra used the name Abhishek Prasad during the questioning and disclosed a few crucial details; as a result, the ED called the chief minister’s press secretary.
Mishra was detained on July 19 after being questioned for over eight hours. The Special PMLA court had placed him in ED custody twice for six days each.
Meanwhile, further searches in Sahebganj by several ED teams led to the M.V. Infralink-III, an inland vessel, being taken into custody.
“The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has further seized one inland vessel, namely M.V. Infralink- III bearing registration number WB 1809, during a search conducted on July 26,” ED said Wednesday. “This is in connection with the ongoing investigation in the illegal mining, extortion, etc. in Jharkhand.”
“The aforementioned inland watercraft was being used impermissibly without a license from Sukargarh Ghat, Sahebganj. It was being run under Rajesh Yadav’s command, called Dahu Yadav, in concert with Pankaj Mishra and others to carry stone chips and boulders that had been illegally mined. “It was an ad.
The agency also said the vessel’s estimated price would be roughly 30 crores.
“This was preceded by the freezing of three HYVA trucks found at MauzaMajhikola, Sahebganj carrying illegally quarried stone chips/boulders without having any mining challans during a search conducted on July 25 by the ED,” it continued. “These were two illegally operated stone crushers of Maa Amba Stone Works operated by Bishnu Yadav and Pavitra Yadav.
