VIJAY DEO JHA
Ranchi, June 2: Mining officers of the four districts namely Chatra, Khunti, West Singhbhum and Saraikela-Kharsawan today turned up at the office of the Enforcement Directorate for questioning in the money laundering case against IAS Pooja Singhal.
The district mining officers included Nadeem Safi (Khunti), Gopal Kumar Das (Chatra), Nishant Abhishek (West Singhbhum), and Sunny Kumar of Saraikela-Kharsawan.
“They had been summoned earlier and asked to join the probe. They were directed to submit the documents and details of their personal self, family, education, assets including personal, ancestral and relatives, and details of the employment and posting. Their statements may be taken in matters related to mining and related things,” said a well-placed source.
Gopal Kumar Das joined as the DMO of Chatra only a few months back. He had been earlier posted in Bokaro district for around four years. Well-placed sources said that Gopal Das is said to be close to two high-profile politicians. There have been allegations of illegal mining and transportation in Bokaro also hence the ED may question him related to his posting in Bokaro.
On a previous occasion, the DMO of East Singhbhum Sanjay Sharma was summoned. But the ED wanted to question him about his tenure in Hazaribagh.