New Delhi/Patna: The Enforcement Directorate has written to the Bihar government flagging an alleged over Rs 131 crore worth sand mining scam in Banka district of the state that has potential links to certain politicians and their associates, official sources said.
The federal probe agency’s communication was sent a few weeks back and it came in the backdrop of a 2023 ‘Lok Adalat’ (alternate dispute redressal platform) proceeding during which the alleged criminal offence was “compounded” and the accused were let off with a monetary penalty, the sources told news agency.
The case began with the Banka police filing as many as seven criminal FIRs between 2017 and 2018 against a company named Mahadev Enclave and its promoters to probe the alleged illegal sand mining in the district.
The police had pressed multiple IPC sections related to cheating, forgery and theft apart from sections of the Mines and Minerals Development and Regulation Act, Bihar Minerals (Concession, Prevention of Illegal Mining, Transportation and Storage) Rules and Environment Protection Act in its complaint.
The company was the sole licence holder in the said district to excavate sand from 28 river banks between 2015 and 2021, according to mining department officials.
The police investigated the case, recorded statements of various persons and filed chargesheets in all the seven cases before a local court naming the company and its director Manoj Kumar Pachisia as accused, they said.
However, the sources said, as there was a delay in the court proceedings, the case was taken before the ‘Lok Adalat’ for compounding and the accused were let off after they were slapped with a penalty amount in February 2023, the sources said.