Coal scam case: CBI searches 13 locations in poll-bound Bengal

New Delhi/Kolkata:Several teams of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday launched search operations at 13 locations in poll-bound West Bengal, including the premises of coal mafia Jaidev Mondal in an ongoing probe into the coal scam case involving the coal mafia Anup Majhi, who is still on the run, sources said.

A CBI source related to the investigation told IANS: "Several CBI teams have been carrying out searches at 13 locations in four districts of the West Bengal."

The searches are going on in Kolkata, Purulia, Paschim Bardhman and Bankura.

The source claimed that the agency teams are also conducting searches at the premises of Mondal, Gurudeb Majhi and a company named Amiya Steel.

On November 28 last year, the CBI had conducted raids at 45 locations in West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, and Uttar Pradesh in connection with a coal smuggling racket.

The agency had registered a case against Majhi and other unidentified people in November last year, including some employees of the ECL and other central government offices. It was alleged that Majhi was involved in coal theft from leasehold mines of ECL in Kunustoria and Kajora areas.