charges framed against 2 including CM Hemant Soren’s aide

Ranchi. Ranchi-based special PMLA court on Friday framed charges against CM Hemant Soren’s MLA representative Pankaj Mishra and Bachchu Yadav in illegal stone mining case worth more than Rs 1000 crore in Jharkhand. Both are currently in judicial custody. The third accused Prem Prakash has filed an acquittal petition, so his case has been kept in abeyance till the order of the court in this matter.

Meanwhile, the PMLA court dismissed Pankaj Mishra’s complaint petition against ED’s assistant director and the investigating officer of the case, Devvrat Jha. Accusing Devvrat, Pankaj Mishra had said that he suppressed the facts of the case and implicated him.

The case dates back to July 2022, when the ED raided Mishra and his alleged associates at 19 places in Jharkhand’s Sahibganj, Barhait, Rajmahal, Mirza Chowki and Barharwa. The ED had arrested Prakash in August last year and he is currently lodged in jail under judicial custody. The ED has described him as an associate of Mishra and both are accused of managing huge cash money obtained through illegal stone mining in the state.

In November last year, Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren was also questioned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for more than nine and a half hours in connection with the alleged illegal mining case. Soren had reached the Ranchi office of the Central Investigation Agency around noon of November 17 and left at around 9.40 pm. The Chief Minister had alleged that he was a victim of the opposition’s conspiracy.

The ED had said at the time that it had so far ‘detected’ illegal mining-related crime worth Rs 1,000 crore in the state. Soren said, ‘If we calculate the annual revenue from mines and minerals, it will not reach Rs 1000 crore. I want to see how they reached that figure.