Ranchi: A day after recovering 2 AK-47 rifles from his residence, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has arrested a man identified as Prem Prakash in connection with its ongoing money-laundering probe into an illegal mining case in Jharkhand, said reports on Thursday.
Prem Prakash is believed to be a close aide of Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren.
Prakash was taken into custody under the criminal sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) around 2 am on Thursday and will be produced before a Ranchi court where the federal agency will seek his custody, the sources said.
However, the Jharkhand government has strongly objected to news reports linking Chief Minister Hemant Soren’s name to the person arrested by the ED from whose residence two AK series rifles were recovered. “Certain news reports by media platforms including a few national TV channels point to a misleading ploy and attempt to intentionally link the Chief Minister of Jharkhand to a private individual” against whom the ED raids were conducted, the CM’s secretariat said in a statement.
This is the third arrest in the case. Earlier, the ED had arrested Pankaj Mishra, a political aide of Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, and Mishra’s associate and muscleman Bachhu Yadav.
BJP’s Godda MP Nishikant Dubey said in a tweet, “Prem Prakash has been arrested by the ED. Prakash is an associate of Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren and his family friend Amit Agarwal and his (Prakash) links should be investigated by.”
The agency had on Wednesday launched searches at premises linked to Prem Prakash in Ranchi, apart from a few other places in Jharkhand, Bihar, Tamil Nadu and Delhi-NCR, and recovered two AK-47 rifles and 60 bullets from a house linked to Prakash in the state capital here.
The weapons belonged to two Jharkhand Police constables, who were suspended after the ED made the recoveries. In May, the agency interrogated Prem Prakash, a real estate businessman in connection with the illegal mining and money laundering case.
Bureau Report
Leave a Reply