Law Kumar Mishra
Patna, August 23
The Enforcement Directorate officials on Wednesday raided the residences and business premises connected with senior BJP and Congress leaders in Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand.
The action came following reports of money laundering by the people engaged in the alleged liquor scam and Mahadev Book on-line betting, officials claimed. In Jharkhand, ED raided 32 places spread in five districts and in Jharkhand, five places at Raipur and Bhilai.
Residence of the Jharkhand finance minister, Rameshwar Oraon at Bariyati in Ranchi was raided. His son, Rohit Oraon is reported to have been questioned.
Houses of two former MLAs of BJP, Nirbhay Shahabadi and Manohar Tekriwal were raided at Giridih and Godda respectively. Amar Tekriwal, brother of Manohar is reported to be engaged in liquor trade and Niraj Shahabadi, son of the former BJP MLA is involved in liquor business.
Houses of Abhisek Jha, Chairman of the 20-points programme and grandson of former chief minister of undivided Bihar, Munna Sanjay, former district president of Deoghar Congress Committee have also been searched. Raids are still on at different places in Dhanbad, Hazaribagh, Jamtara, Dumka and Ranchi districts.
Residence of Vinod Verma, political advisor to Chhattisgarh chief minister, was raided at Raipur and Bhilai. Two officers on special duty in the chief minister’s office, Ashok Verma and Manish Banchor have also been raided at Raipur.
Nitin Bhatnagar, a banker, was arrested yesterday on charges of money laundering. He is alleged to have facilitated the opening of a bank account in the Bank of Singapore which was used for money laundering purposes by the liquor traders. ED had arrested two IAS officers, including the then excise commissioner at Ranchi. They were alleged to have earned commissions and accepted bribes for allowing liquor scam.
A junior officer, Vijay Bhatia attached to Chhattisgarh chief minister was detained by ED on Tuesday. Later, the ED arrested four persons in Raipur in connection with the online betting. They include businessmen Anil Dammani, Sunil Dammani, Satish Chandrakar and Assistant Sub Inspector Police Bhushan Verma. The court sent them to custodial remand till July 29, 2023.
ED has alleged Rs 2161 crore liquor scam in the two states.
Meanwhile, ED has sent second summons to the Jharkhand Chief Minister, Hemant Soren and asked him to appear at Ranchi based ED office on Thursday. Earlier, he was summoned to appear on August 14. His statement is to be recorded in a land scam in which seven officers, including two senior IAS officers are in jail.
