VIJAY DEO JHA
Ranchi, May 9: Chartered accountant Suman Singh is proving a hard nut to crack for the Enforcement Directorate (ED) who despite having glaring evidence against him is not revealing his association with IAS Pooja Singhal and his husband.
Sources aware of the probe confided that he is withholding crucial information. During the arrest of Suman Singh, the ED explained to the court the evidence found against him that suggests his close association with Pooja Singhal. In the remand petition, the ED said that his interrogation is required and there are pieces of evidence against Pooja Singhal that are needed to be examined.
The ED is carefully proceeding against Pooja Singhal. She is facing a money-laundering probe for allegedly committing a scam in the MNREGA project when she was DC of the Khunti district.
It is alleged that during the corresponding period when she was DC of Chatra and Khunti there was a cash trail of cash deposit nearly Rs 1.43 crore to her account and that of her husband. The ED probe suggests that she had deposited cash to the tune of Rs 16.57 Lakh to the account of Suman Singh. Notably, during raids, the ED seized Rs 19.31 Crore cash from his residence.
About Pooja Singhal, the ED said that she used the amounts deposited in her accounts to procure life insurance policies. The ED said that she purchased 13 such policies against payment of premium worth Rs 80.81 Lakh. These policies were purchased under financial year 2005-06 and 2012-13. But she prematurely terminated insurance policies and received a sum of Rs. 84.64 Lakh after settlement.
The ED claimed that Pooja Singhal is the client of Suman Singh for the last many years. Out of the amount of life insurance policies she paid Rs 3.96 Lakh to Suman Singh in 2015. The entry suggests that the next year she transferred Rs 6.39 Lakh to the account of Messer Santosh Crusher Metal Works. This is a partnership firm of Suman Singh where his father Radhe Shyam Singh is a director.
The agency said in 2017, she made a payment of Rs 6.22 Lakh in favour of Radhey Shyam Explosives Pvt. Ltd. All three recipient accounts are handled by Suman Singh. The transfer of such a huge amount of Rs 16.57 Lakh is needed to be examined,” the ED told the court. The agency is soon expected to summon the bureaucrat to further record her statements in the case.
