ED seizes Rs 7.5 cr cash, FDs after raids in Bihar illegal sand mining money laundering case

New Delhi: Cash and fixed deposits worth about Rs 7.5 crore have been seized after raids were carried out in a money laundering case linked to alleged illegal sand mining by some companies that led to the loss of Rs 250 crore revenue for the Bihar government, the ED said on Friday.

The searches were carried out on June 5 at twenty-seven locations in Patna, Dhanbad and Hazaribagh in Jharkhand and Kolkata at the premises of the two firms – Broadson Commodities Pvt. Ltd., Aditya Multicom Pvt. Ltd., their directors, chartered accountants and other associates, the agency said in a statement.

The money laundering case was filed by the Enforcement Directorate after taking cognisance of various Bihar Police FIRs filed against the accused.

The police FIRs, the ED said, were registered on the basis of complaints from the Bihar mining department against the accused for "illegal sand mining and its sale without using the departmental pre-paid transportation e-challan issued by the mining authority, thereby causing revenue loss of about Rs 250 crore to the government exchequer".

The searches resulted in the seizure of about Rs 1.5 crore cash, property documents of Rs 11 crore and fixed deposit receipts of Rs 6 crore while 60 bank accounts have been frozen, it added.