Jharkhand illegal mining case: PMLA court frames charges against MLA representative of CM Soren and Bacchu Yadav

Ranchi (Jharkhand) [India], January 27 (ANI): Special PMLA court, Ranchi on Friday framed charges against Pankaj Mishra, MLA representative of Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, and Bacchu Yadav in connection with illegal stone mining case worth over Rs 1,000 crore.
Mishra and Yadav are currently in judicial custody.
Pankaj Mishra is the MLA representative of Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren and the ED has named him as the mastermind of the alleged scam.
In another development, the PMLA court rejected Pankaj Mishra's complaint petition against Assistant Director of the ED Deovrata Jha who is the investigating officer.
Pankaj Mishra had accused Deovrata of suppressing facts of the case and implicated him.
Earlier, Deputy Commissioner of Jharkhand's Sahibganj district Ramniwas Yadav has appeared before the Enforcement Directorate Zonal office in Ranchi to join the investigation in connection with an estimated over Rs 1,000 crore alleged illegal mining case, officials said.
Officials said that ED had summoned Yadav to appear before the agency on January 23.
According to officials, the ED summons was issued to Yadav after it found during an investigation that Chief Minister Hemant Soren's aide Pankaj Mishra, who is currently under police custody, made several phone and video calls to the Sahibganj DC during July-October last year.
Notably, ED in its investigation has found that, despite being in police custody, Mishra made more than 300 calls to several officials and political leaders in the state, officials said.
Enforcement Directorate has already questioned Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren and his press advisor Abhishek Prasad alias Pintu in connection with the case.
ED is investigating the money laundering case related to illegal mining in the state.
The ED arrested Pankaj Mishra on July 19, while Bachhu Yadav and Prem Prakash were arrested on August 4 and August 25 respectively.
The ED had initiated its money laundering investigation on the basis of a First Information Report registered by Barharwa Police Station, Sahibganj under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, against Pankaj Mishra and others. (ANI)