New Delhi. Enforcement Directorate (ED) Patna has taken major action in the money laundering case related to illegal sand mining in Banka district of Bihar. ED has launched search operations at several locations under Section 17 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002. This case pertains to alleged illegal sand mining done by Mahadev Enclave Private Limited. According to investigation, Mahadev Enclave Private Limited is controlled by the Chandak family of Ganganagar, Rajasthan. The company is run by Ashok Chandak and his son Raghav Chandak. ED investigation revealed that the company illegally mined sand on a large scale in Banka district. It is alleged that the state mining department did not give timely information about this illegal mining nor did it take effective action on it.
Taking forward the investigation of the case, ED Patna had requested the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Patna on October 1, 2024 to conduct geospatial analysis of the sand ghats located in the rivers of Banka district. Analysis of the report of IIT Patna revealed that the concerned company extracted a large amount of sand in violation of the rules. According to the report, the estimated value of illegally extracted sand between financial years 2015-16 to 2022-23 is more than Rs 131 crore.
ED shared this information with the Managing Director of Bihar State Mining Corporation Limited, Patna under Section 66(2) of PMLA. After this, an FIR was registered in this matter by the Mines and Geology Department of Bihar Government. At present the investigation of this matter is going on.
The search process is going on by ED at a total of eight places in Bihar, Delhi-NCR and Rajasthan. These include Banka and Patna in Bihar, one in Delhi, four in Ganganagar in Rajasthan and one in Jaipur. According to ED officials, documents and other evidence related to the case are being examined during the action.
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