Jharkhand minister Yogendra Sao resigns

Jharkhand Agriculture Minister and Congress MLA Yogendra Sao tonight resigned from Hemant Soren cabinet, days after the arrested head of Jharkhand Tiger (JT) accused him of founding the ultra outfit.
He submitted his resignation to the Chief Minister and sought an independent and impartial probe into the allegations, an official communique said here.
Soren, who assured him an impartial probe into the charges, recommended his resignation letter to Governor Syed Ahmed for acceptance.
The police are investigating the alleged links of the minister with JT after the arrest of its head Raj Kumar Gupta and four others on September 1 in Hazaribagh district.

In his statement recorded under section 164 before a judicial magistrate recently, Gupta accused Sao of founding JT to extort money.
Congress had also formed a three-member committee to look into the allegations against Sao, a party MLA.
Sao has since denied the allegations.