STAFF REPORTER / NEW DELHI
Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party on Monday accused BJP of misusing the CBI in connection with the alleged sand mining scam in Uttar Pradesh. Talking to media outside Parliament, the leader of the SP in the Rajya Sabha Ram Gopal Yadav alleged that the BJP is behind the CBI raids in the case to gain political mileage ahead of Lok Sabha polls.
BSP leader Satish Chandra Mishra alleged that the BJP is hell-bent on compromising important institutions like CBI to settle political scores with its opponents.
Rejecting the charge, BJP said, the two parties’ attempts to link the CBI raids to their political alliance is a desperate move to divert public attention from their rampant corruption during the SP rule.
G V Narishma Rao said the raids are part of the ongoing probe into the mining scam since 2016 following the Allahabad High Court order. He said, the then Mining Minister Gayatri Prajapati was also arrested in the case and the action was welcomed by the BSP at that time.
Central Bureau of Investigation has registered FIR against 11 persons including B Chandrakala, an IAS officer, then District Magistrate of Hamirpur in Uttar Pradesh, after conducting raids at many places in the state in illegal mining case.
As per the FIR filed in the case, the alleged role of former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav is under the scanner as he was holding the charge of the Mining Ministry during 2012-13.
Former Minister Gayatri Prasad Prajapati, who held the portfolio of the mining department is also likely to be questioned by the CBI.
The FIR states that the role of then mining Ministers during the period between 2012-2016 may be looked into during the course of the investigation.
Agency carried out searches yesterday at 12 places in the Districts of Hamirpur, Jalon, Noida, Kanpur & Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh and in Delhi.
http://yasminb.sg-host.com/cbi-raids-12-places-in-up-delhi-in-connection-with-illegal-sand-mining/