In its ongoing investigation into money laundering related to the alleged Jal Jeevan Mission scam, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) carried out raids in Rajasthan on Friday, including at the residence of a senior IAS officer, according to sources.
The raids took place in 25 different locations in Jaipur, including the workplaces of Public Health Engineering (PHE) department IAS officer Subodh Agarwal.
According to sources, a few more connected individuals were covered under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
In this instance, the investigation agency had conducted raids akin to these in September.
The Rajasthan anti-corruption bureau (ACB) filed a formal complaint (FIR) alleging that Padamchand Jain, the owner of Shree Shyam Tubewell Company, Mahesh Mittal, the owner of Shree Ganpati Tubewell Company, and others were involved in “giving bribes” to public servants in order to obtain illegal protection, obtain tenders, get bills sanctioned, and conceal irregularities regarding work they completed for various tenders they received from the PHED. These allegations form the basis of the money laundering case.
“The suspects were also involved in the purchase of stolen goods from Haryana for using the same in their tenders/contracts and had also submitted fake work completion letters from IRCON to get PHED contracts,” the ED had alleged in a statement issued earlier.
Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has claimed that the BJP-led government at the centre was giving orders to the central agencies to target the opposition.
Along with four other states—Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Mizoram, and Telangana—Rajasthan will vote on November 25 for its 200-member Assembly, and vote counting will take place on December 3.
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