VIJAY DEO JHA
Ranchi, May 10: Amid an ongoing money-laundering probe against Jharkhand cadre IAS officer Pooja Singhal an interlocutory petition has been filed at the Jharkhand High Court to seek a CBI probe against her and many other IAS officials.
The petitioner, Arun Kumar Dubey, had earlier filed a petition to seek a probe against Pooja Singhal for her alleged involvement in the scam in the MNREGA scheme in Khunti during her period as DC.
Dubey further stated that Pooja Singhal (secretary of Mines & Industry) along with Sunil Kumar (Secretary, Road, Building Construction), Avinash Kumar (Secretary Energy & Chairman cum Managing Director, Electricity), Vinay Chaubey (Secretary Urban Development & Excise Department). Prashant Kumar (Secretary, Water Resources) and Ranchi DC Chhavi Ranjan must be investigated.
The petitioner made a serious allegation against them and said that Rs 30 Crore in cash was sent to Kolkata via Dhanbad by road every month by them. Suman Singh, the chartered accountant of Pooja Singhal, who was arrested by the ED after raids knew all these things, the petitioner claimed. The petitioner alleged that similar practices of corruption are being done by half a dozen IAS officials connected to Pooja Singhal and the CBI is the appropriate independent agency needed at this stage to achieve the appropriate result.
According to the petitioner, Suman Singh used to invest the money with the help of other shell company holders in Kolkata. “And, the looting of public money by the Chief Minister and others, has been going on ever since he took the oath of office. The sources of money are well known and can be inferred, from the raid of ED, at Pooja Singhal’s residence,” the petition states. He also demanded appropriate security for the zonal office of the ED in Ranchi as it is investigating powerful IAS and politicians.
The petitioner has said that the role of Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren, his media advisor Abhishek besides close associates namely Prem Prakash, Amit Agrawal must be investigated.
