NEW DELHI: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Tuesday said that it has named alleged coal mafia Anup Majhi aka Lala, absconding All India Trinamool Congress youth leader Vikas Mishra and several past and current officials of the East Coalfields Limited (ECL) in its chargesheet in connection with West Bengal illegal mining and coal theft case.
CBI spokesperson RC Joshi said that the agency has filed a charge sheet before a court in Bengal’s Asansol, against 41 accused including then General Managers, then Chief Managers, then Security and other officials of ECL and private persons and private companies in an ongoing investigation of a case.
Besides Majhi and Mishra, the CBI has named Tanmay Das, then Chief Manager (Security), ECL; Debashis Mukherjee, then Security Sub-Inspector, ECL; Sushanta Banerjee, then GM, ECL; Subhas Kumar Mukhopadhyay, then GM, ECL; Subhas Chandra Moitra, then Chief Manager, ECL; Mukesh Kumar, then Manager (Security), ECL; Rinku Behera, then Security Sub-Inspector, ECL and Abhijit Mallik, then GM, ECL.
The CBI has also named private persons Gurupada Maji aka GP Da, Joydeb Mondal aka JD, Narendra Kharka aka Narendra Nanda, Nirad Baran Mondal, Ratnesh Verma, Vinay Mishra, Paramendra Kumar Shaw, Dharmendra Kumar Shaw, Chandi Bouri, Priyabrata Chakraborty, Sajid Khan, Samser Hussain, Chandan Barman, Rajesh Bagaria, Dipak Dhibar, Rajesh Bagaria, Rajesh Sharma, Seikh Sadruddin, Seikh Mohibul, Vivekanda Mondal and Bikash Chandra Gorai in the case.
The agency also named private companies named Amiya Steel Pvt Ltd represented through its director Arindam Mondal, Gangan Ferrotech Ltd represented through its director Vinay Kumar Agarwal, Cosmic Ferro Alloys Ltd represented through its director Srikrishna Agarwal, Sen Ferro Alloys Pvt Ltd represented through its directors Rajendar Kumar Bhalotia and Soham Dey, Concast Steel and Power Ltd represented through its then director Sanjay Kumar Surekha, Kunj Bihari Steel Pvt Ltd represented through its then director Amit Agarwal, Savitri Ispat (India) Pvt Ltd represented through its then director Amit Agarwal, Shakambhari Ispat & Power Ltd represented through its director Deepak Kumar Agarwal, Eloquent Steel Iron Pvt Ltd represented through its director Deepak Kumar Agarwal and SPS Steel Rolling Mills Ltd represented through its director Deepak Kumar Agarwal.
The CBI registered a case on November 27, 2020, on the allegations that the public servants of ECL including security personnel, private persons and unknown officials of CISF, Railway, other departments and unknown others entered into conspiracy during May 2020 and onwards. In pursuance of the said conspiracy, they fraudulently misappropriated coal from the coal reserve of leasehold areas under the dominion of ECL and also from the coal stock parked in the Railway sidings for sale and supply.
It was also alleged that the said accused had obtained an undue advantage in the form of huge and regular cash amount as bribe from said private person and facilitated misappropriation of coal from ECL leasehold area and corresponding railway siding and thereby extended undue protection and patronage to the illegal coal syndicate being run by the said private person.
Earlier, CBI had conducted searches at various places including in the States of Bengal, Jharkhand, Bihar and UP etc. at the premises of the accused. During the investigation, several accused including officials of ECL were arrested.