CBI has requested the presence of Samajwadi Party leader and former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav in relation to a case filed in 2019.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has called Akhilesh Yadav to appear as a witness for questioning on Friday regarding illegal mining cases that were registered five years ago. In a notice issued under section 160 of CrPC, the agency has asked him to appear on February 29 for questioning about the case filed in 2019, as per officials.
The case revolves around the issuance of mining leases in alleged violation of the e-tendering process. The probe was ordered by the Allahabad High Court. Allegations suggest that illegal mining took place during 2012-16, when Akhilesh Yadav was the Chief Minister, and that licences were illegally renewed despite a ban by the National Green Tribunal on mining activities.
The CBI launched seven preliminary inquiries in 2016 at the direction of the Allahabad High Court to investigate the illegal mining of minor minerals. The agency alleged that 13 projects were cleared by Akhilesh Yadav’s office in a single day, according to officials.
Searches were conducted at 14 locations in January 2019 as part of the investigation against 11 individuals, including IAS officer B Chandrakala, Samajwadi Party MLC Ramesh Kumar Mishra, and Sanjay Dixit. The alleged illegal mining occurred in Hamirpur district during 2012-16.
Akhilesh Yadav, who held the mining portfolio during 2012-13, is under scrutiny as per the FIR. He was followed by Gayatri Prajapati, who became the mining minister in 2013 and was later arrested in 2017 on charges of rape.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by DNA staff and is published from PTI)