ED seized lakhs of rupees from DC’s residence

Ranchi. ED raids on a dozen locations of people close to CM Hemant Soren, an IAS and some businessmen in cases related to illegal mining and money laundering in Jharkhand continued till late evening on Wednesday. Apart from Ranchi, Deoghar, Sahibganj, Hazaribagh, cash and documents have been seized during raids at a dozen locations in Rajasthan and West Bengal. It is reported that around Rs 8 lakh in cash has been recovered from the camp office of Sahibganj DC. The ED team has also interrogated DC Ramniwas Yadav at his residence.

In Ranchi, the main road office of Grid Architect Consultancy, the company of architect Vinod Singh, who is said to be close to the CM, has been sealed. ED broke a locker during the raid at the residence of CM Hemant Soren’s press advisor Abhishek Prasad Pintu. It is not known what was found in the locker. Raids are going on since Wednesday morning at around ten locations of people close to the state power including DC Ramniwas Yadav of Sahibganj.

Early in the morning, ED teams raided CM’s press advisor Abhishek Prasad Pintu’s residence at Ratu Road in Ranchi, IAS and Sahibganj DC Ramniwas Yadav’s Sahibganj and Rajasthan locations, Sahibganj architect Binod Kumar, Khodania Brothers, former MLA Pappu in Deoghar. Yadav, DSP Rajendra Dubey in Hazaribagh, Abhay Saraogi in Kolkata and Hotwar Jail constable Awadhesh Kumar of Ranchi were raided.

ED has also got hold of many important documents. ED had so far sent seven summons to Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren in connection with the land scam, but he did not appear on any of the summons. He had sent the letter on January 2 in response to ED’s seventh summons, in which he accused the agency of taking action that was politically motivated.