ED arrests Jharkhand mining secretary Pooja Singhal in money laundering case
ED arrested Pooja Singhal after questioning her for two days in a money laundering case linked to alleged embezzlement of MGNREGA funds in Jharkhand’s Khunti district.
RANCHI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday arrested Jharkhand mining secretary Pooja Singhal after questioning her for two days in a money laundering case linked to alleged embezzlement of MGNREGA funds in the state’s Khunti district, officials said.
The 2000 batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer will be produced before the designated court to hear money laundering cases in Ranchi soon, a senior official associated with ED probe said.
The federal agency questioned Singhal and her husband, who runs a super speciality hospital, for around nine hours on Tuesday. Her husband has been called for questioning again on Wednesday.
ED conducted raids in four states on May 6. The federal agency allegedly seized ₹17.49 crore from the residence of Suman Kumar, a chartered accountant associated with Singhal and her husband.
The ED investigation pertains to a money laundering case in which former junior engineer in the Jharkhand government, Ram Binod Prasad Sinha, was arrested by the agency on June 17, 2020 from West Bengal after he was booked by the agency under the PMLA in 2012 after studying the FIRs of the state vigilance bureau against him.
Sinha was booked by the vigilance bureau under criminal sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) pertaining to cheating and corruption for allegedly defrauding public money and investing it in his own name as well as in the name of his family members while working as junior engineer from April 1, 2008 to March 21, 2011.
The said money was earmarked for the execution of government projects under MNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) in Khunti district, the agency earlier said. Pooja Singhal also served deputy commisioner of Khunti district between 2009 and 2010.
According to news agency PTI, Ram Binod Prasad Sinha told ED that “he paid 5% commission (out of the defrauded funds) to the district administration.”
During the period, ED alleged, charges of “irregularities” were made against Singhal while she served as the deputy commissioner or district magistrate of Chatra, Khunti and Palamu between 2007 and 2013.