Akhilesh Yadav Under Scanner in Illegal Sand Mining Case, CBI Conducts Raids at 14 Places

The CBI on Saturday carried out searches at 14 places in Jalao, Hamirpur, Noida, Lucknow and Kanpur with regard to the illegal sand mining case.

Lucknow: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is likely to summon former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav and another senior Samajwadi Party leader in connection with the illegal sand mining case.  From 2012 to 2013, Akhilesh Yadav was the Mining minister and the UP CM from 2012 to 2017. It must be noted that all those who were ministers in that period, their role will be investigated.

The CBI on Saturday carried out searches at 14 places in Jalao, Hamirpur, Noida, Lucknow and Kanpur with regard to the illegal sand mining case. Besides Yadav, CBI is likely to question Gayatri Prajapati, who was arrested in 2017 following a complaint of rape by a woman residing in Chitrakoot.

Among the prominent people whose premises were searched included 2008 batch IAS officer B Chandrakala. The lady officer is famous for her videos on social networking sites that had seen her lashing at government officials and had earned her a title of ‘Lady Dabangg’ (daring).

Apart from these, Adil Khan, then mining officer Moinuddin, SP MLC Ramesh Mishra and his brother, mining clerk Ram Ashray Prajapati, Ambika Tiwari (Hamirpur), mining clerk Ram Avatar Singh and his relative and Sanjay Dikshit are all accused in the illegal sand mining case.

It is alleged that the public servants allowed illegal mining during 2012-16 and illegally renewed licences despite a ban by National Green Tribunal on mining. It is alleged that the officers allowed theft of minerals, extort money from lease holders, extort money from drivers.

In 2016, on the directions of the Allahabad High Court to probe the case of illegal mining of minor minerals, the CBI had filed seven preliminary enquiries. The investigative agency had taken up the case on the instructions of Allahabad High Court.

The CBI raids came a day after the Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) reportedly finalised an alliance for 2019 Lok Sabha elections, virtually excluding the Congress.