West Bengal: ED quizzes IAS officer in illegal sand mining case

IAS officer Ansar Shaikh was questioned by the Enforcement Directorate over alleged illegal sand mining and financial irregularities in West Bengal's Jhargram district during his tenure as additional district magistrate.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday questioned IAS officer Ansar Shaikh in connection with its probe into alleged illegal sand mining and trafficking from riverbeds in West Bengal's Jhargram district and adjoining areas, officials said.

The investigation also involves suspected financial irregularities linked to transactions worth several crores of rupees, they said.

Shaikh, a 2016-batch IAS officer of the West Bengal cadre, appeared before ED officials at the CGO Complex in Salt Lake in the morning in response to the agency's second summons, they said.

He was being questioned till the filing of this report.

Large-scale illegal extraction of sand allegedly took place in Jhargram during the period when Shaikh was posted there as additional district magistrate (ADM).

Currently posted as an ADM in Malda district, Shaikh had drawn national attention after becoming one of the country's youngest IAS officers by clearing the UPSC civil services examination at 21 on his first attempt.

The alleged illegal mining activities are said to have taken place along the Subarnarekha, Kangsabati and Dulung rivers.

The issue has long been raised by the opponents of the then TMC government, who alleged that rampant illegal sand extraction caused environmental damage and substantial revenue loss to the state exchequer.

Investigators suspect that a section of officials turned a blind eye to illegal extraction of sand from riverbeds without valid licences or in violation of mining norms.

''Illegal lifting and smuggling of sand from riverbeds continued unabated during that period. We are examining the administrative role and possible lapses,'' an ED official told PTI.

The agency is also scrutinising official records related to the period under investigation.

''Sheikh is being questioned to ascertain the chain of approvals, monitoring mechanisms, and whether there was any administrative negligence or complicity,'' another ED official said.

Earlier, the ED had questioned former Jhargram district magistrate Sunil Agarwal in connection with the case, officials said.

The agency had also arrested Arun Saraf, promoter of GD Mining Private Limited, in November last year on charges related to the alleged theft and illegal sale of sand and its transportation using forged e-challans, they said.