According to the agency sources, searches were carried out at 12 locations including the residences of Abhishek Prasad and Deputy Commissioner of Sahebganj.
The court said, "It is a sorry state of affairs that the police are trying their best to shield the real culprits, at whose instance the illegal mining operations were being carried out."
NGT has formed a Joint Committee to verify the factual position and take appropriate remedial action on allegations of illegal mining by BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh
Baba Vijaydas, the saint who self-immolated in protest of the government's failure to curb illegal mining in Bharatpur, Rajasthan, died in a Delhi hospital.