The Kolkata Police Detective Department (DD) detained Rajiv Kumar, the attorney who had filed a PIL against Hemant Soren, the chief minister of Jharkhand, for suspected corruption.
According to the police, he was apprehended after being the subject of a Jharkhand Police warrant from a pub below the Hare Street police station.
He was allegedly detained in connection with a Jharkhand-based cheating case. Police discovered him to have $50,000 in cash.
According to intelligence, he had a PIL against a businessman with a base in Kolkata filed in Ranchi High Court, and he was asking for 10 crores to get the PIL withdrawn. He first agreed to a price of 4 crores before settling on 1 crore. When he was apprehended on Sunday, the first payment of 50 lakh rupees had already been paid.
READ MORE: “CBI and ED work independently”: Minister On Sanjay Raut’s Arrest
He had also threatened to have the businessman’s home and office searched because of his links to government organizations. He is credited for creating more than 600 PILs, according to information.
There were two PILs brought against CM Soren. One of them claimed that Mr. Soren had given himself a mining lease while in charge of the Mining portfolio. The other claimed that Soren was connected to money laundering and shell firms.
Abhishek Prasad, alias Pintu, the press secretary for Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren, is anticipated to undergo questioning by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday at its Ranchi zonal office.
On July 26, the ED issued a summons to him and requested that he go to the office on Monday to be questioned over illegal mining following the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
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.
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.
On July 19, Mr. Mishra was taken into custody after almost eight hours of questioning. 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 capture of one inland vessel, M.V. Infralink-III.
“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.
