ED Action: Minister’s close aides, including IAS officers, raided at 20 locations

Jharkhand: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has conducted raids at 20 locations, including those of Jharkhand Minister Mithilesh Thakur’s PS Harendra Singh, his close aides, and IAS officers, in connection with irregularities and money laundering in the Jal Jeevan Mission.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has conducted raids at the residences of Jharkhand Minister Mithilesh Thakur’s PS Harendra Singh, his close aides, IAS officer Manish Ranjan, builder Vijay Agarwal, and several engineers and officers of the Water and Sanitation Department in connection with irregularities and money laundering in the Jal Jeevan Mission.

20 locations raided by ED

The ED teams conducted simultaneous raids at around 20 locations, including Ranchi and Chaibasa, early on Monday morning. The raids are being conducted at Vijay Agarwal’s residence in Indrapuri, Ratu Road, Ranchi, as well as at his other locations in Harmu and Morhabadi. IAS officer Manish Ranjan’s residence and the residence of Minister Mithilesh Thakur’s PS Harendra Singh are also being searched, with security personnel deployed at the locations. It is reported that several documents and electronic devices have been seized from these locations.

What was the case

The raids are being conducted in connection with a multi-crore scam in the Jal Jeevan Mission. The department’s cashier, Santosh Kumar, had embezzled Rs 23 crore. A case was registered, and Santosh Kumar is currently in jail. There have been complaints of irregularities and corruption in the implementation of the Jal Jeevan Mission in several districts of Jharkhand, with FIRs registered in some districts. The ED has taken these FIRs as the basis for its investigation. Minister Mithilesh Thakur is considered a powerful minister in the Hemant Soren government and was elected as an MLA from the Garhwa assembly seat in 2019. The ED investigation may also reach him.