Illegal coal mining case: CBI questions alleged kingpin Majhi, former Birbhum SP Shyam Singh

Kolkata, April 1 : The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday once again questioned Anup Majhi aka Lala, alleged kingpin of the illegal coal smuggling racket, along with Shyam Singh, the then Superintendent of Police (SP) of Birbhum.
A CBI source related to the probe told IANS, “The agency is questioning Majhi for the second time in connection with the case about his businesses, financial transactions and his links with several people in connection with the case.”
The source also said that besides Majhi, the CBI is also questioning Singh.
The source said that Majhi and Singh can be confronted with each other during the questioning.
The CBI has earlier questioned Majhi on March 30 for more than eight hours.
The action comes in the wake of a case registered in November last year involving alleged illegal coal pilferage.
The CBI last week questioned former Asanol Commissioner, Laxmi Narayan Meena for more than three and half hours in connection with the case.
It had registered a case against the alleged kingpin of the pilferage racket Majhi, Eastern Coalfield Ltd General Managers Amit Kumar Dhar and Jayesh Chandra Rai, ECL chief of security Tan Das, area security inspector Kunustoria Dhananjay Rai, and SSI and security in-charge Kajora area Debashish Mukherjee last year.
The CBI also recorded the statement of Rujira Banerjee, wife of Trinamool Congress MP and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s nephew Abhishek Banerjee and his sister-in-law Menka Gambhir in the last week of February.
The agency has recently carried out searches at several locations in the state, including at the premises of Amit Agarwal, a close aide of Majhi, raising the heat in poll-bound West Bengal, where the ruling Trinamool and the BJP are engaged in a bitter battle.
Polling to the 294-member West Bengal Assembly will be held in eight phases, with the first from March 27 to April 29. Results will be declared on May 2.
Polling for the second phase is going on in the state on Thursday.(IANS)