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| Singh: Under scanner |
Dhanbad, Sept. 19: A team of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) sleuths swooped down on the palatial residence of coal mafia Suresh Singh this afternoon and arrested him in connection with the Pramod Singh murder case.
Suresh, Ramadhin Singh, (the brother of another coal don, late Suryadev Singh) and Rajiv Ranjan Singh (the son of BJP MLA Kunti Singh) had allegedly hatched the conspiracy to eliminate Pramod, a coal trader. While CBI managed to nab Ramadhin last year, Rajiv is still absconding.
“The arrest of Suresh will definitely help crack the murder mystery. Rajiv can also provide us with vital clues. He is a vital link for us in the case. Rajiv’s arrest will help us step up the pace of investigation,” said a senior CBI source.
After arresting Suresh from his Dhaiya residence today around 4.30 pm, the CBI sleuths took him to an undisclosed destination for interrogation. He was not produced before the CBI court till late in the evening.
Sources said Suresh has been put up in a guesthouse here. The CBI team would take Suresh to Delhi tomorrow for further interrogation after producing him before the court.
A senior district Congress leader, Suresh had contested the last Assembly polls but lost to BJP’s Kunti Singh, the widow of late Suryadev Singh. The annual income of the arrested mafia is pegged at over Rs 100 crore.
Significantly, Pramod was shot at his residence under Dhansar police station in Dhanbad in 2002. Before breathing his last at a hospital, he gave a death statement alleging that he was shot at by two contract killers following a conspiracy hatched by Suresh, Ramadhin and Rajiv to eliminate him.
After the state police failed to make any breakthrough in the murder mystery, the case was handed over to the CBI.
The contract killers — Kashmiri Khan and Hira Khan — who had shot at Pramod disclosed to the CBI that Suresh, Ramadhin and Rajiv had masterminded the murder.
The duo also revealed to the central investigating team the amount they were paid to eliminate Pramod.
After months of investigation, CBI arrested Ramadhin in 2005. Rajiv, who has been named an absconder in the case, has fled to some other state, said CBI sources.
