ED raids on state govt officials yield over Rs 11 cr
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday seized Rs 11.64 crore in cash after conducting searches at several locations in Patna. The searches in te state capital were linked to seven senior Bihar govt officials.
They were under investigation in a money laundering case against state-cadre IAS officer Sanjeev Hans.
The searches commencing early on Thursday morning at seven locations in Patna continued until midnight while the counting of seized currency notes extended beyond midnight, said an official involved in the operation.
“The searches led to the seizure of cash amounting to approximately Rs 11.64 crore, along with a large number of property-related documents, records detailing the sharing of bribe money and various other incriminating documents and digital evidence,” the central investigating agency said in a statement.
The ED further said that it searched the premises of Tarini Das, chief engineer (north) of the building construction department (BCD); Mumukshu Chaudhary, joint secretary in the finance department; Umesh Kumar Singh, executive engineer in the urban development and housing department (UDHD); Ayaz Ahmed, deputy project director of Bihar Urban Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd (BUIDCO); Sagar Jaiswal, DGM (projects) at Bihar Medical Services and Infrastructure Corporation Ltd (BMSICL); Vikash Jha, DGM at BMSICL and Saket Kumar, executive engineer in the BCD.
These officials were allegedly recipients of bribe money in exchange for favourable decisions in various tenders and the clearance of contractor bills, including those of Patna-based contractor Rishu Shree.
Meanwhile, a day after the searches, the BCD removed Tarini Das from his position as chief engineer (north). Das had been appointed on a contractual basis following his retirement from regular service a few months ago.
The BCD cancelled his contractual appointment on Friday, as per a state govt notification.
The money laundering case against Hans, a 1997-batch Bihar cadre IAS officer who last served as the principal secretary of the state’s energy department, originates from an FIR filed by the Bihar Police’s special vigilance unit.
