UP illegal sand mining: CBI registers case against Chandrakala after raids; may summon Akhilesh

The agency carried out searches at 14 locations on Saturday in connection with its FIR against 11 persons including IAS officer B Chandrakala, Samajwadi Party MLC Ramesh Kumar Mishra and Sanjay Dixit to probe the alleged illegal mining of minor minerals in Hamirpur district during 2012-16.

Akhilesh Yadav, IAS B Chandrakala/ Image: PTI

New Delhi: After conducting raids at 14 locations in Uttar Pradesh in connection with alleged illegal sand-mining scam, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) registered a case against IAS officer B Chandrakala. Former Chief Minister of the state Akhilesh Yadav may also be enquired by the CBI in connection with the case. The probe agency made its FIR public on Saturday, the same day when Yadav’s SP and Mayawati’s BSP indicated that they may come together for 2019 Lok Sabha polls. The agency carried out searches at 14 locations on Saturday in connection with its FIR against 11 persons including IAS officer B Chandrakala, Samajwadi Party MLC Ramesh Kumar Mishra and Sanjay Dixit (who unsuccessfully contested the 2017 assembly election on a BSP ticket) to probe the alleged illegal mining of minor minerals in Hamirpur district during 2012-16. Minor minerals are like sand, gravels etc. IAS Chandrakala and her purported role : Chandrakala, who is on study leave now a days, is one the most talked about officers on social media because of her anti-corruption drive videos on various platforms. Her social media videos lashing out at government officials earned her a title of 'Lady Dabang' (daring).  A UP cadre IAS officer of the 2008-batch, Chandrakala was the district magistrate of Hamirpur during 2012-14 when she allegedly violated e-tender system of allotting mining contracts in her district, the FIR said. It is alleged that Chandrakala in criminal conspiracy with other officials illegally granted fresh leases, renewed existing ones and permitted obstructed period to the existing lease holders in violation of e-tendering process initiated by the government. ]The FIR also accused her and other suspects of allegedly allowing illegal mining, extortion from the lease holders and drivers of the vehicles transporting minerals. Akhilesh Yadav under the scanner: Akhilesh Yadav, who was the chief minister of the state between 2012 and 2017, held the mining portfolio during 2012-13 apparently bringing his role under scanner, according to the FIR. He was succeeded by Gayatri Prajapati, who took charge as mining minister in 2013 and was arrested in 2017 following a complaint of rape by a woman residing in Chitrakoot. The FIR stated:  “The role of the then mining ministers concerned during the relevant period may be looked into during the course of investigation of the case," the FIR said The CBI was directed by the High Court on July 28, 2016 to probe illegal mining in the state following which it had registered seven preliminary enquiries out of which two pertaining to Shamli and Kaushambi districts were converted into FIRs in 2017. The FIR also states that it was the Uttar Pradesh government under Akhilesh Yadav that had introduced e-tendering process to grant or renew mining leases on May 31, 2012, a move ratified by the Allahabad High Court in 2013. (With PTI inputs)