Dhanbad: In Dhanbad, the Income Tax Department (IT) team has raided the houses of 6 coal traders in the morning. Raid has been conducted in the coal linkage scam case. According to Sources, the team from Bihar is also involved in this Income Tax raid.
In the morning information came that this raid was conducted by ED. Hazaribagh’s coal businessman Mohd. Izhar, It is also linked to the raid at Izhar Ansari’s house. The team has reached the locations of Dhanbad’s Lucky Group and coal businessman Deepak Poddar.
The Income Tax team is also examining the documents. No one is allowed to go in or out of the house. Central Force personnel have been deployed on the spot. Coal businessman was arrested during a raid in Dhanbad in the coal linkage scam case.
Izhar is being linked to the raid at Ansari’s residence. An 8-member ED team had raided the residence of Millat Colony located in Pelawal in Hazaribagh. About Rs 13 lakh in cash was recovered from the businessman’s house.
Ijhaar is considered close to suspended IAS officer Pooja Singhal, arrested in the MNREGA scam. ED had received information that he is the director of Kahkansha Group of Companies. Apart from this, he also runs many shell companies.
ED found documents related to several shell companies and investments of black money from Izhar’s hideouts. Raid in Dhanbad has been done on the basis of many evidences found in the documents. Izhar, with the help of the then Mines Secretary Pooja Singhal, is accused of making black money worth crores of rupees by illegally allocating coal at concessional rates and selling it in the market at a higher price.
Last year, on March 3, 2023, ED had raided Izhar Ansari’s premises for the first time. At that time, ED had recovered Rs 3.58 crore and documents related to illegal coal business from Izhar Ansari’s residence in Millat Colony.
ED had received information during its investigation that coal businessman Izhar Ansari had made huge illegal profits in the coal business with the help of Secretary Pooja Singhal. A large part of the illegal earnings reached Pooja Singhal with the help of her chartered accountant Suman Kumar.
In the year 2022, ED had recovered Rs 19.76 crore from Pooja Singhal’s chartered accountant in the MNREGA scam. After this, ED had also interrogated the chartered accountant. Izhar Ansari is accused of picking up coal at a discounted rate in the name of fake companies and selling it at a higher price in the open market.
ED had also received information that when Pooja Singhal was the Managing Director of JSMDC, Izhar lifted coal at concessional rates in the name of his 12 shell companies. These were companies which were closed and were fake. ED had also found documents related to various fake companies from his locations, about which ED had also interrogated him last year.