CBI to quiz MP, five firms' officials on coal blocks

The CBI has seized several incriminating documents during  raids over the coal blocks allocation, and is planning to question five companies' executives, including a Congress MP, in a fortnight, an officer said Wednesday.

"During the raids conducted on Tuesday, several incriminating documents and evidences, including laptops, computer hard disks and other crucial documents linked to the coal blocks allocation case have been recovered and seized," a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officer told IANS.

"More companies that got coal blocks allocated and persons connected with the allocations may come under the scanner," he added.

Congress MP from Maharashtra Vijay Darda and 17 other senior executives of five private companies have already been named by the CBI in the five first information reports (FIRs) registered Monday.

The CBI was considering summoning them for questioning by Sep 20, the officer said.
The five FIRs, registered after three months of the initial probe into coal blocks allocation from 2006-09, named five firms, their directors and unknown government officials as having indulged in misrepresentation and dereliction of duty.

The five companies are: AMR Iron and Steel, Vini Iron and Steel Udyog, Nav Bharat Power, JLD Yavatmal Energy and JAS Infrastructure Capital. Vijay Darda, his brother and son, and 15 others have been named as accused, some of them in more than one FIR.
The CBI carried out searches for over six hours Tuesday.

Apart from Vijay Darda, the FIR against JLD Yavatmal mentioned the name his brother Rajendra Darda, son Devendra Darda, Manoj Jayaswal, Anand Jayaswal and Abhishek Jayaswal.

Vijay Darda had recently stated that he was neither involved in any scam nor had any partnership with Union Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal or Tourism Minister Subodh Kant Sahai on coal blocks allocation.

The FIR against Vini Iron and Steel named Sanjeev Kumar Tulsyan, Prashant Tulsyan, Vaibhav Tulsyan, Nisha Tulsyan, Vimal Kumar Tulsyan, Nirmal Tulsyan, Hemant Kumar Aggarwal and Navin Kumar Tulsyan.

The Tulsyans had reportedly transferred their ownership of Vini Iron and Steel to a close aide of former Jharkhand chief minister Madhu Koda ahead of the allocation of the coal blocks.

The FIR against JAS Infrastructure and Power named Manoj Kumar Jayaswal, Abhishek Jayaswal and Anand Jayaswal.

The Jayaswals are said to be close to Vijay Darda and his family.
Those named in the FIR against AMR Iron and Steel were Arvind Kumar Jayaswal, Manor Jayaswal, Ramesh Jayaswal and Devendra Darda.

Among those named in the FIR against Nav Bharat Power were P. Trivikrama Prasad and Y. Harish Chandra Prasad, the officer said.