Coal block case: Senior CBI official examined

A special court hearing the coal block allocation case involving Jharkhand Ispat Pvt. Ltd. (JIPL) on Thursday recorded the statement of a senior CBI official.

Special Judge Bharat Parashar recorded the statement of Additional Superintendent of Police S.N. Khan, who was part of the team that had searched the residence of accused R.S. Rungta, as well as his office.

Testifying as a witness, Khan told the court that he conducted the search operation in Ranchi, Jharkhand on March 11, 2013 and recovered some documents related to coal block allocation.

The trial will continue on Friday.

The case pertains to the allocation of the North Dhadu coal block in Jharkhand to JIPL.

In its charge sheet, the CBI alleged that JIPL had "grossly misrepresented" a number of aspects before the steel and coal ministries to inflate its claim, and thereby induced ministry officers and the screening committee to allocate the coal block to the company.

The court has framed charges of criminal conspiracy, forgery of valuable security, forgery for the purpose of cheating and using a forged document as genuine against JIPL, and its two directors R.C. Rungta and R.S. Rungta.

Both directors are out on bail.