LUCKNOW/NEW DELHI: The CBI has issued summons to former Uttar Pradesh chief minister and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav in connection with a probe into the alleged illegal mining of minor minerals in Hamirpur district.
The probe agency has asked Yadav to appear before it on February 29 as a “witness” in connection with the case.
In January 2019, the CBI had registered a case against 11 persons, including UP cadre IAS officer B Chandrakala, then SP leader Ramesh Kumar Mishra and Sanjay Dixit to probe alleged illegal mining of minor minerals in Hamirpur district.
The agency was probing illegal mining in UP’s Shamli, Hamirpur, Saharanpur, Deoria, Fatehpur, Siddharth Nagar and Kaushambi districts as part of its seven Preliminary Enquiries (PEs) registered in 2017 in compliance of the Allahabad High Court order. The agency, later, registered three FIRs in January 2019.
However, reacting to the CBI summons, the SP chief said that his party was at BJP’s target. “As the elections draw near, notices also start pouring in. I had got a notice in 2019 as well ahead of Lok Sabha elections.” Attributing it to BJP’s nervousness, Akhilesh said that if the BJP had genuinely performed during the last 10 years, it should not have been so nervous. The case against the SP chef pertains to the allocation of mining lease flouting the norms of e-tender.
The Allahabad HC had ordered a CBI probe into the alleged irregularities during 2012-16 when Akhilesh was UP CM. It has been alleged that the state officials colluded with private players in alleged illegal mining of minor minerals between 2012 and 2016 by granting fresh leases, renewing existing leases and permitting obstructed period to the existing lease holders, without following the e-tendering procedure as mandated by the UP government.
As part of the collusion, the accused persons allowed excavation of minerals with a purpose of theft and to extort money from lease holders and the drives of vehicles.
BJP is nervous, so it is targeting SP, says ex-CM
Reacting to the CBI summons, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav said that his party was at BJP’s target. Attributing it to BJP’s nervousness, Akhilesh said that if the BJP had genuinely performed during the last 10 years, it should not have been so nervous.
