May 6, 2022, 8:00 PM IST
Enforcement Directorate officials seized over Rs 17 crore in cash during raids carried out against IAS officer Pooja Singhal in Jharkhand's Ranchi on Friday. Singhal, a mining and geology department secretary, is reportedly Chief Minister Hemant Soren's close aide.
The IAS officer is under investigation by the agency in connection with a money laundering case linked to the alleged embezzlement of National Rural Employment Guarantee Act funds worth over Rs 18 crore in Khunti district from 2008-to 2011.
The probe was initiated after Jharkhand High Court senior advocate Rajeev Kumar complained against her in February 2022. The Enforcement Directorate carried out raids in 20 places across the country. Besides Jharkhand, raids were also carried out in Rajasthan, Delhi, and Mumbai.
Also raided was a multi-super speciality hospital run by her second husband, Abhishek. Her first husband is a 1999 batch IAS officer in Jharkhand.
According to ED sources, the raids were carried out based on the statement given by junior engineer Ram Vinod Prasad Sinha who is in the anti-corruption bureau's custody. Sinha allegedly told investigators that Singhal granted a mining lease on 83 acres of forest land in contravention of the environmental regulations.
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