Separate teams of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officials from New Delhi carried out simultaneous raids early on Thursday morning at different places, including the residence and office, linked to industrialist Mahimananda aka Mahima Mishra in Odisha.

After the raid at Mishra’s residence, CBI officials took Mishra’s elder son Chandan to the agency’s local office.

However, the officials of the investigating agency remained tightlipped about the raids. Though an official did not divulge much detail, he said the raids were conducted in connection with a case of coal block allotment registered in Delhi.

According to a source, searches were conducted at Mishra’s residence in Odia Bazaar and office in Link Road of Cuttack city. Besides, raids were also carried out at the office of Mishra-owned Orissa Stevedores Limited (OSL) in Badapadia of Paradip town.

The CBI sleuths also quizzed Paradip Port Chief Mechanical Engineer Saroj Kumar Das and a port contractor, Sumant Rout, at a guesthouse of the port in connection with the case.

Notably, earlier, a court had rejected Mishra’s bail plea in the Mahendra Swain murder case. In November 2018, the Supreme Court had also turned down his application in the same case. Swain was the Paradip manager of a shipping agency.

On September 18, 2018, the apex court had rejected the bail granted by the Orissa High Court and ordered to take Mishra into custody.

Previously, the High Court had granted bail to Mishra in connection with two cases of attempt to murder pending against him in Cuttack and Paradip.

Mishra had been arrested from Bangkok in December 2016 for allegedly masterminding the murder of Mahendra Swain of Hyderabad-based stevedoring company Seaways Shipping and Logistics Limited in broad daylight on October 26, 2016, in Paradip.

Subsequently, two cases of attempt to murder were lodged against Mishra in Cuttack and Paradip.