Enforcement Directorate Conducts Raids In Jharkhand MGNREGA Funds Fraud Case, Rs 19 Crore Seized

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted raids in 18 different locations in four states on Friday (May 6), in connection with the alleged embezzlement of ₹ 19 crore funds allocated to projects under MGNREGA. IAS officer Pooja Singhal and her aides' premises were also covered in the raid. Singhal is also the present Mining and Geology Secretary in the government of Jharkhand.

ED Conducts Raids

During the raid, around ₹ 17 crores were seized from Singhal's close aid, Ranchi-based Chartered Accountant's house, with banknote counters being brought in to ascertain the actual amount.

The ED officials conducting the raid were provided with security by Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel. The raid also recovered around ₹ 1.8 crores from another location in Ranchi. A hospital was also among the locations raided on Friday.

ED raid at a location linked to IAS Pooja Singhal underway in Ranchi, Jharkhand. Several trunks were loaded in a bus amidst tight security by CRPF. pic.twitter.com/sNtawV81Z0

— ANI (@ANI) May 6, 2022

Jharkhand's BJP MP Godda Nishikant Dubey has alleged that the ED raids prove that Jharkhand CM Hemant Soran's state government has surpassed their predecessor in terms of corruption. The earlier government was led by Madhu Koda, who was arrested in a money laundering case in 2009. As reported by News18, Dubey told PTI that nothing gets done in the state without "money and bribes".

MGNREGA Funds Fraud Case

The raids being conducted by the ED trace back to the PMLA case against Ram Binod Prasad Sinha, the former junior engineer in the Jharkhand Government. Sinha was arrested by the ED on June 17, 2020, from a district in West Bengal, due to 16 FIRs and charge sheets against him by the vigilance bureau in Jharkhand. The bureau had alleged that Sinha had abused his position as an official in projects under MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) and had embezzled the allocated funds of over ₹ 18 crores.

Sinha was booked under the criminal IPC sections of cheating and corruption for allegedly diverting public money to his name and that of his family members while working as a junior engineer for the government projects. He was charged by the ED and summoned to court in Ranchi in 2019, where he did not show up. Later, a non-bailable warrant was issued against Sinha, and a search was launched by the ED, resulting in his arrest from West Bengal.

As reported by India Today, during his questioning by the ED, he named several senior bureaucrats who could allegedly be a part of the MGNREGA Funds fraud. IAS Pooja Singhal was among the few named, which resulted in the current raids on a number of her premises in Ranchi.

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