BJP team meets governor, wants CBI to probe IAS officer Rajiv Arun Ekka

RANCHI:A delegation of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders in Jharkhand on Monday called on governor CP Radhakrishnan to demand that a corruption case be registered against the 1994-batch

RANCHI:A delegation of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders in Jharkhand on Monday called on governor CP Radhakrishnan to demand that a corruption case be registered against the 1994-batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Rajiv Arun Ekka.

BJP leader Babulal Marandi released a 22-second video of IAS officer Rajiv Arun Ekka, which it alleged, showed him signing files at outside his office (Twitter/Video screengrab)

Ekka was the principal secretary at chief minister Hemant Soren’s office till Sunday evening when he was abruptly transferred to the panchayati raj department. Ekka’s marching orders - he also held charge of the departments of home and public relations -- were issued a few hours after BJP legislature party leader Babulal Marandi released a 22-second video. Marandi said the video shows the IAS officer signing official files at the home of a power broker.

HT cannot verify the authenticity of the video clip and sought Rajiv Arun Ekka’s comments. Ekka is yet to respond to HT’s request.

On Monday, Marandi followed up on his allegation and led a nine-member delegation of party leaders along with state unit chief Deepak Prakash to ask Raj Bhavan to order a first information report against Ekka under the Official Secrets Act and initiate disciplinary action under the service rules.

In their memorandum, the BJP said since Ekka was clearing sensitive files related to tenders of the home department, it was possible that he was involved in money laundering

“This incident not only shows the corruption at top of the state machinery, but is also a matter related to the security of the state and nation. It therefore requires an independent probe from an agency like CBI. The mere act of the chief minister to transfer him to another department is not sufficient. He has held important positions in the bureaucracy and can affect the probe,” the BJP’s memorandum said.

JMM general secretary Supriya Bhattacharya said the party has nothing to comment on the case.

“He has already been removed from CMO. Any further action on it is a matter of the government and it would deal with it,” Bhattacharya said.