ED files money laundering case over illegal sand mining in UP

New Delhi, Jan 17 (IANS) Based on a CBI case in connection with its ongoing investigation into illegal sand mining, the ED on Thursday registered a case of money laundering to probe the role of bureaucrats and politicians in Uttar Pradesh.

A senior Enforcement Directorate (ED) official told IANS that the agency filed a case under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) against some bureaucrats and politicians mentioned in the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) FIR.

The development comes days after the CBI registered a case on January 2 against 11 people, including some known and unknown public servants and others, under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Prevention of Corruption Act.

The CBI has named IAS officer B. Chandrakala, a former Hamirpur District Magistrate, miner Adil Khan, geologist/mining officer Moinuddin, Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Ramesh Kumar Mishra, his brother Dinesh Kumar Mishra, Ram Ashray Prajapati - a former clerk in the Mining Department in Hamirpur, Sanajy Dikshit who contested the 2017 Assembly polls on the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) ticket, his father Satyadeo Dikshit and Ram Avtar Singh - a former clerk in the Mining Department.

According to the CBI officials, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav as Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh granted lease of mines to 14 people in 2013 in Hamirpur district against the Allahabad High Court orders which had ratified the e-tender policy.

On January 7, the CBI released a list of 22 leases cleared by Akhilesh Yadav, who was also the Mining Minister during the period, and Gayatri Prasad Prajapati, who succeeded Yadav as the Mining Minister.

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