Major blow to Bengal government ED arrests West Bengal cop Ashok Mishra in coal pilferage case

Officials of ED took West Bengal cop Ashok Mishra into custody in connection with the coal pilferage case. Mishra, the inspector-in-charge of the Bankura police station, was apprehended in Delhi on Saturday night, they said. According to sources, he is thought to have connections with Anup Majhi, alias Lala, who is thought to be the ringleader of the scam.

He was probed for having links with Anup Majhi, alias Lala, who is taken into account to be the kingpin of the scam, sources said. This is the second arrest within the case, the looked for which began in November last year. The agency had earlier arrested Bikash Mishra, the brother of Trinamool Congress youth leader Binay Mishra,

Binay Mishra has been evading interrogation, following which a look-out circular was issued against him, officials said. Majhi, the alleged kingpin, is scheduled to seem before the CBI on Monday for interrogation. He has been interrogated twice thus far after being elusive for long. The investigating agency on November 28 last year administered a huge search operation during a number of locations in four states: West Bengal , Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh after registering a case against Majhi.

The CBI had acted on information from “reliable sources” indicating illegal excavation and theft of coal within the leasehold area of Eastern Coalfields Limited in “connivance” with the officials of ECL, CISF and Railways. The CBI team on February 23 visited the residence of Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee and examined his wife Rujira in reference to the case. The agency also examined Rujira’s relatives on an equivalent matter. Abhishek is that the nephew of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.