The Central Bureau of Investigation has summoned Samajwadi Party president and former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav for questioning in connection with an illegal sand mining case from 2019, PTI reported.

The law enforcement agency issued notice to Yadav under Section 160 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, asking him to appear before it as a witness on Thursday.

The case was registered after the Allahabad High Court ordered an investigation into allegations that mining leases in Uttar Pradesh’s Hamirpur district had been issued in violation of rules governing the process of online tendering. This happened during Yadav’s term as chief minister.

Yadav held the state’s mining portfolio between 2012 and 2013, during which time he once approved 13 mining leases in a single day, the Central Bureau of Investigation has claimed. Existing mining licences were also renewed despite a ban by the National Green Tribunal on sand mining.

Officers are also facing allegations of extortion of money from leaseholders and drivers.

In 2016, the law enforcement agency filed seven preliminary inquiries on the directions of the Allahabad High Court that the allegations be investigated. In 2019, the agency carried out raids at 14 places in connection with a first information report lodged against 11 public servants and politicians.