RANCHI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is conducting raids at 17 locations linked to Congress MLA Amba Prasad, including her residence at Ranchi, in connection with multiple cases related to land and sand scams.
The ED team started simultaneous raids at the locations of Congress MLA Amba Prasad and her relatives at Ranchi, Hazaribagh and Ramgarh in Jharkhand on Tuesday morning.
Recently Amba Prasad met former Hazaribagh MP Yashwant Sinha at his residence. Speculations are rife that Amba Prasad may be the Lok Sabha candidate for Congress from Hazaribagh.
ED is also conducting raids at locations of Circle Officer (CO) Shashi Bhushan Singh, currently posted at Govindpur in Dhanbad.
Singh was circle Inspector at Churchu in Hazaribagh, but later got promoted to Circle Officer. He has also worked as CO in Katamdag and Hazaribagh Sadar of Hazaribagh.
During his term as CO in Hazaribagh, he was charged with corruption and was transferred to Govindpur in Dhanbad.
ED searches are underway at Amba Prasad’s residence at Ranchi and Barkagaon in Hazaribagh, CO Shashi Bhushan Singh's residence at Hawaii Nagar in Ranchi, BJP worker Raju Sao's residence at Keredari in Hazaribagh besides the locations of MLAs close aides Bindu Dangi and Rajendra Sahu in Hazaribagh.
According to ED sources, information related to the cases registered against Amba Prasad and charge sheets filed in different courts were sought by the agency about 10 months ago through a letter written to Jharkhand Police.
The correspondence was done following a complaint against the MLA by ED alleging her involvement in land and sand scams.
Notably, name of Amba Prasad and her family members also surfaced in a land dispute, following which the boundary wall of that particular land was demolished by the district administration. Amba Prasad and her family members are also accused of making attempts to capture government land illegally in Hazaribagh.