Jharkhand Congress to probe allegations of party MLA's link with ultras

Jharkhand Pradesh Congress Committee on Thursday set up a three-member committee to probe into the allegations that its MLA, Yogendra Sao, also the agriculture minister in the Hemant Soren government, had links with a criminal outfit.

Senior party leader Manoj Kumar Yadav will head the committee with PCC general secretary Samsher Alam and party's Women's Committee president Abha Sinha being its members, a PCC release said in Ranchi. It said the findings of the committee would be sent to the party high command.

The committee was set up in the wake of the media reports on allegations that one of the five arrested ultras confessed that Sao has "links" with the Jharkhand Tiger Group, a criminal outfit. Denying the allegations and claiming that it was a conspiracy to defame him before the Assembly elections, Sao had yesterday said, "It's a conspiracy against me as I had objected to the allotment of coal blocks in Barkagoan/Keredari blocks of Hazaribagh district to two companies. I also demanded a CBI probe in this connection."