ED files chargesheet against ex-Jharkhand minister's son, 6 others in money laundering case

New Delhi, Aug 22 (PTI) The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday said it has filed a chargesheet against Ankit Raj, son of former Jharkhand minister Yogendra Sao, and six others in a money laundering case linked to alleged illegal sand mining.

The prosecution complaint was filed on Thursday before a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in Ranchi.

The other accused arraigned in the chargesheet are Manoj Kumar Agarwal, Pancham Kumar, Sanjeev Kumar, Manoj Prasad Dangi, Anil Kumar, and Bindeshwar Kumar Dangi, the federal probe agency said in a statement.

Congress leader Sao is a former agriculture minister of Jharkhand.

The money laundering case stems from a clutch of 16 FIRs filed by Jharkhand Police against Sao, his family and their associates.

The predicate offences include a range of criminal activities such as extortion, illegal sand mining, disruption of government work, and the operation of an unlawful outfit known as the Jharkhand Tiger Group, the ED said.

The ED alleged that Ankit Raj was the "mastermind" of a systematic and multi-layered illegal sand mining syndicate that generated "substantial" proceeds of crime.

Investigation found that Ankit Raj, in collusion with his associates, continued to "illegally" extract and sell sand from the Haharo, Plandu and Damodar rivers, long after his mining licence expired in 2019, the agency claimed.

"The syndicate adopted a sophisticated modus operandi to launder the illicit profits. This involved concealing illegally mined sand by mixing it with legal stock at the licensed yards of his associates, generating proceeds of crime through the evasion of statutory regulations, and laundering the illicit funds through a complex network of cash deposits and financial transactions," the ED said.

The alleged sand mining syndicate generated proceeds of crime worth Rs 3.12 crore, according to the ED probe.

The agency has attached properties worth Rs 3.02 crore, including 28 immovable assets and two fixed deposits belonging to Ankit Raj, as part of its probe.

The ED conducted searches in connection with the case in March last year and July. PTI NES ARI