Former aide of CM Soren behind ₹1,000 cr illegal mining syndicate: ED

A former representative of Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren leveraged "political influence" to mastermind an illegal mining syndicate in the state that generated proceeds of crime worth Rs 1,000 crore, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) said on Wednesday.

The federal agency said in a statement that it has made these charges in a fresh prosecution complaint (chargesheet) filed in this case on June 30 before a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in Ranchi.

"The current complaint brings to light the roles of eight additional individuals and two companies, who have been found to be integral to the criminal network orchestrated by Pankaj Mishra, the then political representative of the chief minister of Jharkhand," the ED claimed.

Mishra was arrested by the ED in July 2022 after raids were conducted against him and some others. He was the political representative of Soren in his assembly constituency of Barhait in Sahibganj district.

Soren has always maintained that there was no wrongdoing.

The newly arraigned accused in this sixth chargesheet include a man named Rajesh Yadav alias Dahu Yadav.

According to the ED, Yadav is absconding and has been identified as a "key henchman" who managed the illegal transportation of stones across the Ganga river and financed the fraudulent ferry tender to enable large-scale smuggling of minerals.

Another accused in the chargesheet, Heera Lal Bhagat, operating from the Mirza Chowki area, used his firm Jai Maa Bhavani Stone Works to run illegal mining operations and was found in possession of over Rs 3.13 crore unaccounted cash, directly representing proceeds of crime, the central agency said.

It said Mishra, by leveraging political influence, masterminded an extensive syndicate engaged in illegal mining, extortion, and monopolisation of mineral transport in Sahibganj, generating proceeds of crime estimated at over Rs 1,000 crore.

The ED said in the statement that its investigation also "uncovered" that a man named Nimay Chandra Shil "conspired" with the syndicate's kingpin, Mishra, by partnering with his wife to "fraudulently" secure a mining lease in return for a 50 per cent profit share.

Meanwhile, it said, a company named Marine Infralink Logistics Pvt. Ltd. and its director Yash Jalan were found to have "knowingly" provided a vessel named M V Infralink-III to facilitate the syndicate's illegal stone transport operations and "received" payment of Rs 2.75 crore which was derived from the syndicate's illegal mining proceeds.

The ED claimed its fresh chargesheet has "further strengthened its case by demonstrating how different operatives' -- whether through financing the ferry services, managing illegal mining sites, or laundering the proceeds through corporate fronts -- collectively sustained the syndicate's criminal enterprise."  The agency has frozen and seized assets worth over Rs 18 crore in this case till now.