Ranchi: A joint raid by the ED and the Income Tax Department on the residences and establishments of two Congress MLAs and their associates in Jharkhand has uncovered unaccounted deposits and cash transactions worth over Rs 100 crore. The raid took place at the residences of MLA Pradeep Yadav from Paudaiyahat and MLA Kumar Jaimangal Singh from Bermo. The ED team also raided the house of Ajay Kumar Singh, a coal industrialist who is related to MLA Anoop Singh.
The CBDT said in a statement on Tuesday that it conducted searches at 50 locations this month, including Ranchi, Godda, Bermo, Dumka, Jamshedpur, Chaibasa in Jharkhand, Patna (Bihar), Gurugram (Haryana) and Kolkata (West Bengal). The raid took place in coal and iron ore business establishments. Investigators initially found the role of MLAs Kumar Jayamangal alias Anup Singh and Pradeep Yadav.
The Congress is a partner of the JMM-led ruling coalition in the state under the leadership of Chief Minister Hemant Soren. Several business groups are also involved in coal trading/transportation, execution of civil contracts, iron ore extraction and sponge iron production. According to the CBDT, many prominent political leaders are involved. More than two crore cash was seized.
