VIJAY DEO JHA
Ranchi, May 10: Jharkhand Mining and Industry secretary Pooja Singhal on Tuesday afternoon turned up at the zonal headquarters of the Enforcement Directorate in Ranchi for her questioning in the MNREGA scam in Khunti during her period as DC of the district. She is apparently the first IAS of Jharkhand cadre who has been raided and summoned by the ED at the Ranchi office.
She was accompanied by her husband Abhishek Jha who is being questioned for the third consecutive day as his company Pulse Sanjeevani Healthcare Private Limited and the super speciality hospital are too under the scanner of the ED. Abhishek Jha has undergone intense questioning in the last three days so is his chartered accountant Suman Singh who is on the remand of the agency. For instance, Abhishek Jha who reached the ED office on Monday morning left for his home around 2 AM on Tuesday.
Pooja Singhal was summoned to appear before the agency at 10.30 AM. Driving in a car JH 01BY 3495 she reached at 11 AM along with her husband. Clad in a deep green printed kurta with a red border she quietly reached the ED office. She was soon surrounded by media persons the moment her car came close to the ED office. On getting information that she has been summoned for questioning, the national media too dispatched its reporters to cover the summons. From national to regional and youtubers were jostling to grab her in their fame to feed their target audience.
“Aaj kuch hoga kya, (will something happen today)” a media person nonchalantly asked another. Whether she will be arrested or walk to her home, they wanted to know.
As her car stopped at the portico of the ED office they pressed their boom mike in front of Pooja Singhal asking for her comment as the ED summoned her. “Madam boliye kya reaction hai aapka. Aapko ED ne bulaya hai kya kahengi,” asked media persons. Pooja Singhal did not respond. She did not even look at them.
The glamour and patina of a bureaucrat were missing. She looked nervous and quite unsure about her future. She doesn’t know tough questions that the ED is going to ask. She quietly stepped inside the ED office. Media personas were asked to vacate the premise of the ED office and the iron gate of the ED was locked from the inside.
Outside, media persons were speculating what precisely was on the other side of that mighty gate. They were waiting for something juicy to come out of the confinements of the ED office.
Even the bureaucracy of the state is shocked and worried and quite uncertain about what is going to be the next. “She is the first IAS officer of Jharkhand whose premise has been raided by the ED. Don’t know what is the precedent in such a case after she was raided and summoned. let’s see,” said a bureaucrat.
