ED arrests J’khand mining secy CA over MGNREGS fund fraud
NEW DELHI/RANCHI: Suman Kumar, a chartered accountant associated with Jharkhand’s mining secretary Pooja Singhal, was arrested on Saturday by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with ₹19.31 crore in cash recovered a day earlier.
Acting on a tip on the possibility of huge cash being stored by certain persons, the central agency had on Friday conducted raids at multiple premises, including that of Singhal and her family, in connection with a money laundering probe linked to the alleged embezzlement of over ₹18 crore MGNREGS funds in Khunti district of the state during 2008-11, officials said.
The central agency also recorded statement of Singhal during Friday’s raid at her office and residence, people familiar with the development said. Investigators are now planning to summon her under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.
Singhal is a 2000 batch Indian Administrative Service officer and was earlier posted as deputy commissioner in Khunti district.
Kumar, who is financial advisor for Singhal and her family, was arrested after hours of questioning on Saturday. Of the ₹19.31 crore cash recovered on Friday, ₹17.79 crore was recovered from Kumar’s premises. “During his questioning, the chartered accountant was evasive about the end use and beneficiaries of so much cash,” an official said, seeking anonymity. “We have recovered certain incriminating documents, which have entries against certain individuals’ names to whom this cash was to be delivered. We will soon call these individuals for questioning.”
The directorate produced Kumar in a Ranchi court and sought custody for 10 days.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday attacked the Jharkhand government led by chief minister Hemant Soren, saying it was looting public resources.
“The manner in which public resources are being looted to the determinant of the people in the department headed by the chief minister is shocking,” BJP spokesperson Nalin Kohli said. “Silence is not an answer in this mega scam, which exceeds ₹150 crore as per media reports.”
The ED’S money laundering probe, going on since 2018, is related to alleged embezzlement of funds meant for the rural jobs guarantee scheme in Khunti district between 2008 and 2011.
Ram Binod Prasad Sinha, a former junior engineer in Jharkhand government, was earlier arrested on June 17, 2020, in the case from the North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal.
The Jharkhand Vigilance Bureau (now known as Anti-corruption Bureau) had filed 16 first information reports (FIRS) in 2017 and subsequent charge sheets against Sinha in the matter. It was alleged that Sinha and others abused their official position in embezzlement of government funds by way of forgery and misappropriation of funds to the tune of ₹18 crore out of the funds earmarked for execution of government projects under the jobs guarantee programme.
A political row has erupted over the incident, with the opposition BJP seeking resignation of chief minister Hemant Soren. “The chief minister should take moral responsibility and resign,” said state BJP chief Deepak Prakash.
The ruling Jharkhand Mukti Morcha general secretary Supriya Bhattacharya said: “Raghubar Das goverment formed a committee to probe into the allegations against Singhal... But based on the report, the state government gave clean chit to Singhal.”