LAGATAR24 NETWORK
Ranchi, Feb. 3: Jharkhand cadre IAS officer and ex-Mining Secretary Pooja Singhal on Saturday surrendered before the special PMLA court of Prabhat Kumar Sharma in Ranchi after her month-long interim bail period was over. She was forwarded to Birsa Munda Central jail in judicial custody.
The Supreme Court on January 3 had grated her interim bail for the treatment of her daughter. She is a prime accused of the MNREGA scam in Khunti district and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had arrested her in May last year. The ED chargesheeted Pooja Singhal along with her husband Abhishek Kumar Jha and many engineers and officials of Khunti district.
Her regular bail petition was rejected by the PMLA court and the Jharkhand High Court. She later on moved to the Supreme Court to get bail. She prayed for interim bail for the treatment of her daughter who required immediate medical care owing to some health issues.
The SC directed her not to stay and visit Jharkhand during the interim bail period. She was asked to stay in Delhi-Mumbai region for the purpose of treatment
Earlier, the Ranchi PMLA court and then Jharkhand High Court had rejected her bail petition. The Jharkhand High Court in its order had stated that owing to the enormity of the crime bail can’t be granted to her. The ED had submitted before the high court that she had even tried to get a fake medical report to get bail.
Notably, the ED has charged her for committing a scam worth Rs.18.06 crore in the execution of the MGNREGA project in Khunti district where she was the DC during the period 16th February 2009 to 19th July 2010. She was the principal authority for sanctioning funds for different development projects. The ED claimed that she invested the proceeds of crime in the construction of Pulse Super Speciality Hospital owned by her husband.
Pooja Singhal was arrested after the ED raided her premises as well as her chartered accountant Suman Kumar Singh and recovered Rs. 19.76 crores (approx) from premises of Suman Kumar Singh.
