NEW DELHI: The CBI on Thursday conducted searches at three locations in Delhi and West Bengal in connection with alleged pilferage of coal from Eastern Coalfields Ltd (ECL) mines in Asansol, officials said.

During the operation, the residence of a former ECL director in the national capital's Dwarka area, the residence of the then general manager of the public sector unit in West Bengal's Asansol and the residence of a Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) inspector posted at the NTPC in Farakka in West Bengal were searched, they said.

The multi-crore coal pilferage scam is related to the Eastern Coalfields Ltd's mines in West Bengal's Kunustoria and Kajora areas.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had registered an FIR in November last year against the alleged kingpin of the pilferage racket, Anup Manjhi alias Lala, ECL general managers Amit Kumar Dhar and Jayesh Chandra Rai, ECL security chief Tanmay Das, Kunustoria area security inspector Dhananjay Rai and Kajor area security in-charge Debashish Mukherjee.