IANS | 16 Jul, 2018
Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Sunday directed senior state
officials to take necessary steps for handing over the multi-crore Barak
Valley coal scam to the CBI.
Under the scam, coal loaded on
trucks was ferried from the Barak Valley in Assam through Meghalaya for
several years to evade tax and thereby causing huge loss to the state
exchequer.
The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the
Assam Police had registered a case and arrested seven government
officials and several middlemen.
The Opposition parties as well
as several organizations like Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti claimed that
the scam was on due to the patronisation extended by some Bharatiya
Janata Party leaders, including its MLAs.
Sonowal's direction to
the Chief Secretary and senior Home Department officials for
facilitating the Central Bureau of Investigation inquiry is aimed at
ensuring a thorough and impartial probe.
The Chief Minister said
that as soon as the scam came to light with the arrest of one Abdul
Ahad, the state government decided to hand over the case to the CBI.
