Kolkata, Sep 10 (IANS) Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday arrested an Eastern Coalfields Limited (ECL) worker from Pandabeswar in West Bengal’s West Burdwan district on charges of taking a bribe.
The arrested man was produced before the special CBI court in Asansol on Thursday. The judge ordered his 14-day jail custody.
According to the central investigation agency, the arrested person’s name is Shankarlal Harijan. He lives in the South Shyamala Colliery area of the Pandabeswar Assembly constituency. He was actively associated with the Trinamool Congress-affiliated ECL workers’ organisation.
A three-member CBI team raided the South Shyamala Colliery on Wednesday night. At first, he was not found in his home. He had disappeared. The CBI officers detained his son Pankaj Harijan and questioned him about his father. Later, they caught Shankar red-handed at that time. Allegedly, he was taking a bribe of Rs 20,000 by promising to transfer a worker. The worker was unable to work inside the mine due to illness.
The search began immediately after Shankarlal was caught. CBI officials raided everywhere from the colliery office to his house.
Sources claimed that the search operation continued throughout the night. Several important documents and files were seized from the house.
A section of ECL workers claimed that the leader had been taking money for a long time in the name of providing special benefits at work. It is initially believed that this operation was based on that allegation.
CBI officers said that the seized documents are being examined. Investigators are also investigating whether a bigger ring is active behind the scenes.
According to the central investigation agency, a colliery worker had applied for light duty due to his physical illness. Allegedly, using that opportunity, Sankarlal Harijan demanded a bribe from the sick worker in the name of arranging work.
As soon as the matter came to light, the central intelligence agency launched an investigation. To verify the truth of the complaint and collect evidence, raids were conducted simultaneously at two places – Sankarlal Harijan’s residence and the local ECL office.
The officers are probing whether there are any other dishonest transactions, like taking bribes in exchange for providing work opportunities and whether any other senior officer of ECL was involved in this illegal practice.
–IANS
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