Illegal sand mining case: ED conducts searches at 27 locations in Bihar, Jharkhand, Bengal

New Delhi: The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) has carried out search operations at premises belonging to Broadson Commodities Pvt Ltd and Aditya Multicom Private Limited and their directors, chartered accountants and other associates, in an illegal sand mining case.
The searches were made on June 5, 2023, at 27 locations in Patna (Bihar), Dhanbad, Hazaribagh (Jharkhand) and Kolkata (West Bengal) in connection with an illegal mining case. ED said it initiated an investigation on the basis of various FIRs registered by Bihar Police against the companies and their directors.
FIRs have been registered on the basis of complaints from the Mining Department of Bihar against those accused of illegal sand mining and its sale without using the departmental Pre-paid transportation E-Challan, issued by the Mining Authority in Bihar, causing a revenue loss of Rs 250 crore (approximately) to the government exchequer.
The search operations resulted in the discovery of cash and incriminating documents -- sale deeds of properties purchased, FDRs in the name of companies and their directors.
The cash worth Rs 1.5 crore and property documents worth Rs 11 crore have been seized, FDRs worth Rs 6 crore and 60 bank accounts have been frozen.
"Other incriminating physical and digital material were (also) found during the search and were seized for further examination," ED said. (ANI)