KOTA: Former Rajasthan minister in the preceding Ashok Gehlot government Pramod Jain Bhaya and three others were booked on Wednesday evening under various sections of the IPC for cheating, criminal conspiracy and extortion at the Baran city police station, an official said.
Bhaya, former mining and "gopalan" (cow care) minister, was earlier booked in a separate case of criminal conspiracy and fabricating fake documents at the Anta police station on January 1, and an investigation into the matter is currently underway.
In the complaint to the police, Leader of Opposition in the Baran Municipal council and BJP ward councilor Dilip Shakywal alleged Ankit Jian alias Bordia, Sunil Yadav, Sharad Sharma and Naresh Tantrik carried out illegal mining and transportation of soil on behalf of the former minister without lease over government pasture and revenue land adjoining to the Baran collectorate on the Kota Road.
He also accused Bhaya of stocking and selling the same causing a revenue loss of around Rs 90 corer to the state government.
Police lodged a case against Bhaya and four others under sections 420 (cheating and dishonesty), 384 (extortion), 413 (dealing in stolen property), 426 (mischief), 379 (theft) of the IPC and sections of the MM(DR) Act on Wednesday evening, said SHO at the Baran city police station Ramvilas Meena on Thursday.
In order to verify allegations in the complaint, related documents are yet to be collected from the departments and concerned statements of officials and people allegedly involved are yet to be recorded, he said.
In another case of similar nature, Bhaya and chairman of the Anta municipality in the Baran district Mustafa Khan were on Monday booked under various sections for alleged conspiracy and fabricating fake documents to sanction tenders worth crores of rupees even after enforcement of the model code of conduct for the Assembly elections.
It was alleged that Bhaya and the municipality chairman sanctioned and opened tenders of the Anta municipality through forged documents of "back date" even after enforcement of the model code of conduct on September 9, 2023.