RAJ KUMAR
Ranchi, May 18: The 2011 batch Jharkhand cadre IAS officer, Chhavi Ranjan, who is lodged in Birsa Munda Central Jail as an ED accused, sought the court’s permission to meet his wife and child twice a week in the jail.
He filed a petition to this effect before the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA)) special court. The court is yet to pass any order on the petition. The order will be passed on May 22.
Before the court fixed the date for an order in the petition, ED’s special public prosecutor Shiv Kumar Kaka protested the petition saying a prisoner can get facility only in accordance with the jail manual and the manual, which allows meeting once a week.
IAS Ranjan separated from his family after he landed in trouble for his acts and omission while working as Ranchi deputy commissioner. His name surfaced in a scam involving army land in Ranchi and others. The ED arrested him on May 4 after he met his wife and produced before the court the next date.
He denied his any connection with power broker and ED accused Prem Prakash during questioning, but got exposed when the ED procured a CCTV footage revealing meeting of Ranjan with Prakash in jail on May 5 night.
ED officials so far have concluded that the IAS officer masterminded a land scam in Ranchi using his official position and influence. The court has sent him judicial custody till May 25.
