The Central Bureau of Investigation has carried out searches at the residences of five Members of Legislative Assembly of Jharkhand after registering a case into the alleged cash-for-vote scam during 2010 Rajya Sabha elections.
CBI sources said the searches were carried out at the residences of Simon Marandi of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, Umashankar Akela of Bharatiya Janata Party and Rajesh Ranjan, Yogendra Sao and Sawna Lakra of Congress.
The agency has filed a FIR in the case related to a media expose, where six MLAs were allegedly caught on tape expressing their willingness to vote in favour of a particular candidate in the Rajya Sabha elections, in return of monetary gains.
In January, the Jharkhand high court had directed the CBI to take over the probe into cash-for-vote allegations linked to the 2010 Rajya Sabha elections and also look into whether any vigilance official was hindering the progress in the case.
The case was handled by the state vigilance department, which had lodged a FIR against six MLAs of various political parties, after a TV channel showed CD footage purportedly with the voices of some MLAs, soon after the 2010 Rajya Sabha election was conducted to fill the vacant post of MPs from Jharkhand.
In addition, the court asked the agency to probe whether vigilance department officials permitted destruction of evidence and abetted in getting the evidence of the criminal case destroyed.