'Illegal' sand mining case: ED attaches assets of Bihar JD(U) MLC

New Delhi, Feb 6 (PTI) The Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday said it has attached two immovable assets worth over Rs 26 crore "acquired" by Bihar MLC and JD(U) leader Radha Charan Sah as part of a money laundering investigation linked to alleged illegal sand mining in the state.

The money laundering case stems from a total of 19 FIRs registered by Bihar Police under various sections of the IPC and Bihar Mineral (Concession, Prevention of Illegal Mining, Transportation and Storage) Rule, 2019 against Broad Son Commodities Private Limited and others.

Probe found, the ED claimed in a statement, that the "illegal sale of sand and its mining was mainly controlled by a syndicate and Radha Charan Sah, being a syndicate member, generated huge proceeds of crime through Broad Son Commodities Private Limited." "He layered and laundered the proceeds of crime with the assistance of his son Kanhaiya Prasad using hawala network," it said.

Sah used it (proceeds of crime) in the acquisition and development of a resort in Manali in Himachal Pradesh through a company where his sons are shareholders and to carry out construction at a school in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, run by his family-owned trust, the ED alleged.

Sah, it said, used the "facade of a firm and a trust owned by his family members to layer the proceeds of crime." Broad Son Commodities Private Limited "has been involved in illegal sand mining and selling of sand without using the departmental pre-paid transportation e-challan issued by the mining authority of Bihar and this caused huge revenue loss to the extent of Rs 161.15 crore to the government exchequer," the ED said.

Sah, his son Kanhaiya Prasad and directors of Broad Son Commodities like Mithilesh Kumar Singh, Baban Singh and Surendra Kumar Jindal were arrested by the ED last year and they are currently lodged in jail under judicial custody.

A chargesheet was filed against them in November 2023 before a Patna special PMLA court.

The total value of the two immovable assets, attached provisionally under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), is Rs 26.19 crore, the ED said. PTI