Lucknow: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday raided several residential and other locations of former Uttar Pradesh minister Gayatri Prasad Prajapati, his driver, and sons, in connection with the illegal mining scam.
The case relates to the violation of norms in providing mining leases in various districts of the state between 2012 and 2016. The ED registered a case against the former minister on August 4, 2019, under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act of 2002. The teams laid siege at his residence in Amethi, while another team raided the whereabouts of his driver Raja Ram in Tikari area of Amethi district.
In the money laundering case, on Wednesday, the ED raided 7 locations including the house and office of Gayatri Prajapati, his son, and close relatives. According to sources, in Lucknow, the ED has found documents of dozens of properties including 11 million old currency, five lakh plain stamps. Apart from this, the proof of handing over 200 crore assets in the name of the driver is being revealed.
On 30 December, ED teams conducted another raid at Prabhapati’s son Anil and Anurag’s Vibhuti Khand office in Lucknow. ED sources alleged that the money was extracted from illegal mining through the firms of Prajapati’s sons.
Not only this, the team has also received many such documents, which have confirmed the creation of mask companies by Gayatri Prajapati’s son, through which black earnings were white. There is also information to purchase 110 acres of land in Lucknow. Now the ED will also collect information from the Registry Department of Pune. Significantly, in August last year, a case was registered against Gayatri under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
Meanwhile, the state vigilance has also filed an FIR against Prajapati under the Prevention of Corruption Act, claiming to have exceeded his known sources of income. The former minister was also arrested by the CBI in the mining scam last year. Prajapati is currently lodged in Lucknow jail in the 2017 gang rape case, while his son Anil is in jail in a fraud case.