The Enforcement Directorate is said to have sent around a dozen officials to Sahibganj Pakur and Dumka district to understand and investigate the pattern of illegal mining and transportation via Ganga waterways and railway.
Highly placed sources said that the ED headquarters in Delhi has pitched Bihar unit also for the investigation as the the trail of money laundering has been found in Bihar also namely Purnea, Katihar and Bhagalpur. The Bihar unit has been asked to investigate properties acquired by mining mafias and other suspects in these three districts. A week back the ED collected a number of documents pertaining to purchase of vast swathe of land in Sahibganj and Katihar where a bridge over the river Ganga is being constructed.
Besides, there is also an actionable input that after the ED launched money laundering investigation, a huge quantity of gold biscuits have been procured by some private and official persons whose role in the illegal mining is suspected.
Meanwhile, in another development Enforcement Directorate has directed the district transport officer of Sahibganj and Pakur district to produce the records of last seven years to know the number of trucks seized by the transport department for carrying stone chips without transportation permit. The concerned DTO has been asked to furnish the current status of court case of seized trucks and what else other actions were taken against illegal transportation of stone chips.
On Monday the questioning of the district mining officials is likely to be continued. The DMO of Jamshedpur Sanjay Sharma has sought a time petition to appear before the agency for his questioning. The ED has also instructed power broken Prem Prakash to come at the ED for questioning. The ED is also likely to lodge fresh cases of illegal mining pertaining to Santhal Pargana.