Jharkhand cash laundering probe: ED will get one other 5-day to grill IAS officer Pooja Singhal

Express News Service

RANCHI: Remand of IAS workplace Pooja Singhal, arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in cash laundering case, has been prolonged for an additional 5 days. Producing Singhal within the Court, ED’s Counsel knowledgeable that she has been complaining of giddiness fairly steadily, attributable to which they’re dealing with issues in interrogation, and therefore, wants one other 6 days for quizzing her.

Besides offering medical amenities to the IAS officer, EDs Counsel knowledgeable Court, in addition they have to rearrange some medical checks throughout interrogation which kills a lot time. On the requests made by ED, the court docket prolonged her remand for one other 5 days.

“We pleaded before the court that they are trying to get information related to the digital devices, documents, and sources of income, which has not been completed. In addition to that, the court was also told that Singhal is being interrogated in front of the District Mining Officers (DMO), for which, we need
some more time,” stated ED’s Counsel BMP Singh. Citing all these grounds, ED demanded a 6-day remand for Pooja Singhal however was granted just for 5-days, he added.

CA Suman Kumar, nonetheless, has been despatched to jail, stated Singh. The Enforcement Directorate, after interrogation for over 15 hours, had arrested mining secretary Pooja Singhal on May 11 in a cash laundering case linked to alleged embezzlement of MGNREGA funds and different costs whereas Chartered
accountant Suman Kumar, related to Singhal, had already been arrested three days again. A day after her arrest, the State Government suspended Singhal on May 12. 

The 2000-batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer has been taken into ED custody beneath the related sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). Singhal was arrested on the second day of the questioning being executed by the ED officers after her replies to the questions requested by ED throughout
questioning weren’t passable and her replies had been evasive.

According to ED, Rs 1.43 crore greater than the recognized sources of her revenue had been recovered from the financial institution accounts of Pooja Singhal whereas she was Deputy Commissioner in Khunti, Palamu and Chatra. The ED additionally claimed that Singhal bought as many as 13 insurance coverage insurance policies by paying a premium of Rs 80.81 lakh and closed them earlier than completion of their tenure and received Rs 84.64 lakh in opposition to it.

Notably, the ED on May 6 performed raids at a number of areas, together with that of Pooja Singhal, in reference to a cash laundering case linked to alleged embezzlement of over Rs 18 crore MGNREGA funds in Khunti district throughout 2008-2011. The raids had been performed at a complete of 18 areas together with Bihar, Rajasthan, Haryana, NCR in addition to Ranchi, Khunti and Dhanbad in Jharkhand.