Illegal sand mining case: CBI searches 11 places in UP, Uttarakhand; Ex-BSP MLC’s house also raided

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Tuesday conducted searches at 11 locations in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand in connection with illegal sand mining activities,

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Tuesday conducted searches at 11 locations in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand in connection with illegal sand mining activities, the agency said. The locations included Saharanpur, Dehradun and Lucknow.

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It has been alleged that government officials along with private individuals had allocated some illegal mining sites by flouting rules and regulations between 2012 and 2016. Mining rights were allegedly also given in violation of orders of the National Green Tribunal (NGT).

On Tuesday, separate CBI teams conducted simultaneous raids at several locations in Saharanpur, Dehradun and Lucknow on the premises of the accused and others believed to have been involved in alleged irregularities in the allocation of mining leases.

One of the places searched was the house of former Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MLC Haji Iqbal in Mirzapur, Saharanpur district.

Senior superintendent of police (SSP) Saharanpur, Dinesh Kumar P, said, “The CBI team arrived in the town in the morning and demanded police support during the raid. We provided them the required support but don’t know anything about the raid.”

Sources said that CBI team raided Iqbal’s house after registering a fresh case in connection with the alleged irregularities in allocation of sand leases during the BSP rule in UP. “The CBI team also collected inputs about the land purchased for the university established by the Iqbal family in Mirzapur. The team returned after conducting search and making queries for over two hours,” said an official on condition of anonymity.

Notably, in January also, searches were conducted at 12 places in districts Hamirpur, Jalaun, Noida, Kanpur, Lucknow and Delhi, during which incriminating material pertaining to illegal sand mining, including a huge amount of cash and gold, were recovered.

All those who were ministers in that period are also reportedly being investigated by the CBI, sources said.

The CBI had initiated a probe into the alleged illegal mining activities in 2016 on the directions of the Allahabad high court.

(with agency inputs)