Bihar Sand Mining Case: ED Searches Premises Of Chirag Paswan's Aide Hulas Pandey In Patna And Bengaluru
Pandey has been under scrutiny for undisclosed allegations in connection with the financial irregularities. There has been no official comment from the ED on the details of the case yet.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday conducted searches at three locations linked to Hulas Pandey, a member of the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas). The raids were carried out in connection with a money laundering probe in an alleged illegal sand mining case in Bihar. They were conducted at two premises in Patna and one in Bengaluru.
"The ED is investigating a sand mining-linked money laundering case in Bihar and in this connection the premises of some politically linked persons are being raided," police officers told news agency PTI, adding that action was being taken against Hulas Pandey and some others
Hulas Pandey is said to be a close aide of Union Minister Chirag Paswan and a prominent strongman in the Union Minister's LJP (Ram Vilas) party. Pandey has been under scrutiny for undisclosed allegations in connection with the financial irregularities. There has been no official comment on the details of the case yet.
The searches by the ED began early morning on Friday. According to a report by India Today, ED officials, along with local police, also conducted searches at a location in Delhi.
Pandey resigned as the party's parliamentary board chairman after the CBI, in a chargesheet, accused him of being the mastermind in a 2012 murder case.
The founder and head of the private militia Ranvir Sena, Brahmeshwar Singh Mukhiya, was shot dead by unidentified assailants in Bhojpur, Bihar on June 1, 2012. The CBI in its chargesheet alleged that the plot to murder Mukhiya was conspired by Pandey due to fears of losing his political influence among upper-caste farmers in the state.
However, Pandey denied the allegations and called them a "political conspiracy". Earlier this year in April, Pandey got relief in the murder case after a special court junked the CBI chargesheet. A former MLC, Pandey was a member of Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal (United) before he joined the LJP.
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