Conspiracy to slap ‘rape charges’, threats to ‘kill’, giving ‘supari’ (contract to kill) to Maoists and other mercenaries — here is how a jailed accused, Prem Prakash, has allegedly been trying to deter senior investigators of the Enforcement Directorate in Jharkhand.
Accusing Prem Prakash of “directly handling” the proceeds of the alleged illegal mining scam on behalf of Chief Minister Hemant Soren, the ED, in a special leave petition (SLP) submitted before the Supreme Court last month, has made several shocking claims. This is also the first time Soren’s name appeared on an official document in connection with the Rs 1,000-crore alleged stone mining scam in Jharkhand’s Sahibganj.
“The investigation established that the accused, Prem Prakash, was involved in laundering the proceeds of crime obtained from illegal stone mining at Sahebganj whose quantum exceeds more than Rs 1,000 crore. It surfaced that the accused was directly handling the proceeds of crime on behalf of the present Chief Minister in cash through Pankaj Mishra (constituent assembly representative of the Chief Minister from Sahibganj) and was later laundering them into the companies under his control and linked entities,” the ED said in the petition.
Prem Prakash, whose name appeared in two scams – illegal stone mining and a land deal – was arrested by the ED last year and is lodged in Jharkand’s Birsa Munda jail.
The Enforcement Directorate has issued seven summons to Jharkhand Chief Minister Soren, which he chose to skip, calling them “politically motivated” and “bad in law”. The investigators later raided offices and residences of Soren’s associates and some senior IAS officers. After the raids, the ED in a statement said it seized several “incriminating” documents and evidence from the premises.
The directorate, in its SLP, seeking that the accused be moved to another jail, said he was operating from the jail with the support of the jail authorities and the state government to intimidate, threaten and slap false charges, including rape complaints and cases under the sections of SC/ST Act against the ED officers.
The central investigating agency also claimed that the accused had allegedly paid cash to a witness who later turned hostile. The petition, accessed by News18, is now pending before the court.
It further added that the accused was supported by senior government officials, including the superintendent and warden of the correctional home.
Conspiring with ‘Maoists, Gangsters & Govt Officers’
The directorate has attached related evidence, including screenshots of CCTV footage and other documents, with the petition to establish that the source information received by the agency was also corroborated by its probe into the inputs.
“Prem Prakash is hatching conspiracies to derail the investigation with other influential persons, including the Jail Superintendent and the Jailor of Birsa Munda Central Jail, Hotwar, Ranchi. These two jail officials are facilitating him in the conspiracies of Prem Prakash. It has surfaced that Prem Prakash initially tried to establish connections with the Maoists who are languishing in the Judicial Custody at Birsa Munda Central Jail, Hotwar, Ranchi for targeting the officials of the Directorate of Enforcement who are associated with cases linked to him. He also established contacts with certain gangsters lodged in the Jail for the above purposes (sic),” stated the agency in its petition.
“In the above connection, information was also being received from the credible sources that Prem Prakash in connivance with the jail officials is doing frequent meetings with outsiders to influence and threaten the witnesses as well as to rope in the officials with frivolous cases (sic),” the directorate added.
Mentioning the modus operandi of the accused in intimidating a prime witness who later turned hostile before the trial court, the ED said: “It is pertinent to mention that few days before, one of the prime witnesses of the illegal stone mining case, namely Vijay Hansda, turned hostile before the trial court and later it is also gathered that he has filed frivolous cases under the Schedule Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and has also given statement under section 164 of CrPC against the officers of the Directorate of Enforcement.”
“In this case, the FIR was lodged at the Dhurwa Police Station, Ranchi and the action of the police was very swift in registering the FIR and getting the statement of the said Vijay Hansda recorded u/s 164 of the CrPc. The above facts corroborate the involvement of the said accused Prem Prakash and the assistance given to him by certain government officials,” it added.
News18 reached out to senior members of the ruling JMM. A senior leader said that the central agency is making “false claims”.
“As elections approach, the BJP is getting restless seeing Soren Ji calm and composed. He is in the state and attending office, holding meetings every day. These are politically motivated cases and there is no legal standing of such cases,” added the leader, requesting anonymity.
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