RANCHI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday raided the premises of Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren's press advisor, officials of Sahibganj district and a former MLA as part of a money laundering probe into alleged illegal mining in the state, official sources said.
About a dozen locations in the state, including in state capital Ranchi and a premise in Rajasthan, are being raided by the central agency under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), they said.
The premises of press advisor Abhishek Prasad alias Pintu, collector and SP of Sahibganj district, ex-MLA Pappu Yadav, some jail department officials and a police constable are being searched by the agency officials, the sources said.
An armed escort of central security forces went along with the ED officials.
The agency, since 2022, has been probing a trail of Rs 100 crore of "proceeds of crime" generated from illegal mining operations in the state.
The money laundering probe began after the ED raided Soren's political aide Pankaj Mishra and his alleged associates in July, 2022 and covered 19 locations in Sahibganj, Barhet, Rajmahal, Mirza Chauki and Barharwa in Jharkhand to investigate alleged irregularities in the operation of toll plaza tenders and instances of illegal mining in the state.
The evidence collected during the course of the investigation, including the statements of various persons, digital evidence and documents, revealed that the funds seized from the accused was derived from illegal mining being rampantly done in the Sahibganj area, including the forest area, the ED had said.