Coalgate: CBI begins raids, files FIRs against five companies

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has filed its first set of FIRs in the coal block allocation scam. According to reports, FIRs have been filed against five companies. The companies include Vimmi Iron and Steel, Nav Bharat Steel and three others, reported IBNlive.

Cases have been registered under cheating, criminal conspiracy against the companies, owners of the companies and unknown officials of the Coal Ministry and state governments.

CBI has also began raids at the premises of those private players who got coal blocks by misrepresenting facts, according to reports. Offices of JLD Yavatmal Energy and Vimmi Iron and Steel in Nagpur and Dhanbad were raided, according to reports.

The agency sleuths were also conducting searches at 30 places in ten cities including Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Patna, Hyderabad, Dhanbad and Nagpur.

Meanwhile, Union Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal commenting on the opposition party’s allegations, said, “CBI action proves BJP is wrong.”

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The CBI had registered a preliminary enquiry (PE) after receiving a reference from CVC. The CBI teams went to Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand and examined officials concerned of the companies under scrutiny. While Nav Bharat Coal Fields is a Chhattisgarh based company, Vimmi Iron and Steel is based in Jharkhand.

At least 10 companies, which benefited from the coal block allocation, are under CBI scanner for alleged violation of norms, sources said.

The sources had said that the agency is likely to register cases in different batches and nearly eight companies could be booked in the first set.

Meanwhile, the agency is also taking into cognisance the Comptroller and Auditor General report on alleged coal blocks issue which was tabled in Parliament recently.

The sources, however, made it clear that CBI would not be going into policy issues but will limit its role to aspects where criminality could be established.

The agency, on Monday, sought more time from the CVC to submit its status report on its probe into alleged irregularities in coal blocks allocation and utilisation.

With inputs from PTI